


Frostbite and Thorns

by Zachial



Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Disney - All Media Types, Frozen (2013)
Genre: AU, BATB, Childhood Friends, Crossover, F/M, Romance, frozen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-06-03 09:23:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 59,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6605437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zachial/pseuds/Zachial
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of "Frozen," Elsa tries to reunite with an old friend from her childhood. But when she finds a castle ruled by a mysterious beast instead, her life takes an unexpected turn...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Once Upon a Time, in a Faraway Land...

**Author's Note:**

> Why Beast (or Adam) with Elsa? It's an unusual pairing, I realize, but one that I've really latched onto, especially with the notion that they were childhood friends (or not-quite-friends at first...) and I really wanted to tell this tale.

Part 1

~Prologue~

Elsa had dreaded this winter.

Not because of the cold… no, far from it. She enjoyed the cold and the snow. Whether that was a result of her little secret or the cause of it, she hadn’t been able to decide yet. No, the winter months this year would bring with them something far worse than blizzards and frost. They were bringing a prince.

The Territory of Gévaudan had been a staunch ally to Arendelle for many, many years. Something to do with some war or other, and one of Elsa’s ancestors being rescued by a noble from the territory… She never had paid much attention to the stories.  Why the young Prince occasionally visited their castle every year or two, Elsa could not say. She only knew three things: That the visits always came in December, that she was expected to ‘get along’ with their guest… and that the young prince was the biggest brat she had ever met. He always complained, always talked down to his poor servants… She had to wonder how the boy’s parents let him get away with it. Her own Mama and Papa always taught Elsa to be respectful and courteous, regardless of her status. Didn’t all parents teach their children that? The last visit two years prior had been the worst, ending in pulled braids and kicked shins… Elsa had been glad to see his ship disembark that year.

But now the ship came once again, carrying Prince Brat with it. Elsa could see it entering the fjord now as she stood on the dock with her family, waiting to greet their visitor. Little Anna, in spite of her cheerful smile and restlessness shivered in their mother’s arms as they watched the ship approach.

“Who’s coming, Papa?” Anna asked.

“Prince Adam of Gévaudan.” the King replied. “You remember, Elsa’s friend.”

“Oohh, him…” Anna nodded her head. “I thought Elsa hated him.”

“No, don’t be silly!” The King laughed gently and patted Elsa’s shoulder. “They’re old friends. Right, Elsa?”

“Yes, Papa…” Well of course Elsa didn’t _hate_ the Prince… but she wasn’t sure she would call him her ‘friend,’ either. Not that she would tell her father that…

“Is Elsa going to show him her magic?” Anna asked, her face bright and hopeful.

“No, no,” the Queen was quick to say, her voice hushed. “Anna, remember, we don’t talk about the magic… okay?”

The girl’s face fell. “Awh, okay…”

The Queen smiled and pressed a kiss to Anna’s forehead. “I’m sure you children will find plenty of other things to do, though. Just wait and see, it’ll be lots of fun!”

Elsa wasn’t so sure. But she held her tongue all the same and brushed a few flakes of snow from her dress as the ship finally made it to the dock. The sailors were quick to tie off the vessel and lower the gangplank, just in time for its passengers to disembark. The first one off the boat—wobbling a bit on unsteady legs—was a short, stout man with a very unconvincing wig. Elsa recognized him right off as the Prince’s butler and one of his main caretakers, though she had never managed to learn his name. Behind him came a few other servants, carrying luggage.

The stout butler shivered a moment in the cold before he seemed to take notice of the royal family, but the moment he did he was quick to bow. “Ah, your highnesses! Excellent to see you!”

“It’s good to see you, as well,” the King greeted warmly. “I trust you and the Prince had a pleasant trip?”

“Pleasant?” The butler sputtered a moment. “Ah, yes well—perhaps ‘pleasant’ is too strong a word. You see the young master was a little displeased with the crew and—well really I suppose they _could_ have made the ship go a bit faster if they had tried, and the cabins got a tad cold…”

Elsa rolled her eyes. Prince Adam dissatisfied… what else was new. Oh how she dreaded seeing that scowling, scornful face… Ah, there, right on time. Down the gangplank stalked a boy just an inch or two taller than herself. Well, not counting the fur cap he wore atop his head, which matched the heavy fur coat he wore. In fact, the boy was so heavily bundled that it was hard to see his face at all.

The boy, though eight years old like Elsa, carried himself like many of the old dignitaries Elsa had seen visiting Arendelle. His head was high, his shoulders back, and he walked with a confidence that dared anyone to step in his path. How she _hated_ that walk.

“Ugh, it’s too cold,” Adam complained as he approached. “Why do we always have to come in winter? I hate the cold!”

The King smiled, despite his guest’s gruffness, and knelt down to look Adam in the eye. “Yes, it is a bit chilly out here, isn’t it? We have plenty of hot chocolate inside, though, and a nice roaring fire ready in the guest room. You’ll be warmed up in no time, Adam.”

The Prince seemed satisfied with this answer… at least, his grunt in response was as close to satisfaction as Elsa thought the king would get from him. The temperature around the group dropped a few degrees, as if just to spite the royal brat.

The drop in temperature didn’t go unnoticed. Adam shivered once before he beckoned his butler to follow and headed towards the castle. The butler, in turn, beckoned the servants carrying the luggage to follow as well. The royal family wasn’t far behind.

“He looks so fluffy,” Anna whispered to Elsa. That, at least, put a smile on the elder princess’ face and the temperature rose again, if only by one or two degrees.

\---

The guests were shown to their quarters soon enough where, as the King had promised, hot chocolate and warm fires awaited them all. While the Prince was given a chance to unpack and change out of his coat, the Queen took Anna off to her room for a nap. Elsa, in the meantime, accompanied her father to the common room to await their guest.

“Papa…?” Elsa began as she paced the floor, “why _does_ Prince Adam only visit in the winter time…?”

The King breathed a gentle sigh, sinking into a high-backed chair next to the fire.  “Elsa…” he replied gently, “you know why…”

The princess ceased pacing then, her gaze dropping to the carpet beneath her feet. “Because it’s less obvious when I use my powers…?”

The King watched his daughter, his face unreadable. “Yes. If it was summer or spring someone might notice a chill in the air or snow on the floor, after all.”

Was he ashamed? Elsa found herself wondering that more and more as the years went on, as her powers grew and grew… She liked her power, really. It was fun! Making snow and ice, changing the temperature in the air at will… it had started so innocently, freezing her nanny’s tea as a small child, making snowmen in the ballroom in the middle of August, small things like that. Anna adored the magic, and that made Elsa all the happier to have it. But her parents…

“Why have him here at all, then?” Elsa turned to face the King, her hands balled into fists. She could feel a cold breeze, though all the windows were shut. “Papa, why does he come here?”

The King offered his daughter a small smile and knelt down to take her hands in his. Immediately, the chill melted from her skin and the breeze died away. “Elsa, don’t you like having a friend your age to play with?”

“Not this one…” Elsa rolled her eyes. “Papa, he’s mean, he’s coarse, he’s…”

“He’s a prince.” The King chuckled. “They tend to be a little… spoiled.”

“Were you spoiled as a prince?” Elsa tilted her head as she looked into her father’s kind face. It was hard to imagine him like Adam. Young and selfish. He was so mature and kind…

The King laughed again. “Maybe not _that_ spoiled… But I was hard to take when I was younger. I was brash… always acting before I thought. I still do that sometimes. But you know, something changed me.”

“What?”

“Your mother.” Elsa’s look of confusion must have amused the King, for he laughed yet again. “It’s true. Your mother helped to make me a better man. She saw something good in me… and she made me want to be the best version of myself.”

For a moment, Elsa couldn’t help but smile. “That’s sweet, papa…” she admitted, “but… what’s that got to do with Prince Adam? Who’s going to make him better?”

“Who knows? But maybe if you tried to find some good in him… that would be a good start, hm?”

 _Her_? Find good in _him_? Elsa had to resist the urge to laugh right in her father’s face. “What if there is none…?”

“I’m sure there is.” The King gave Elsa’s hands a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “You just have to look closer. Besides, you two didn’t always butt heads, you know. Before that little… misunderstanding last time, you used to play all the time, making snow angels, sliding on the ice…”

Elsa rolled her eyes. ‘Misunderstanding’ her foot. “We were five, Papa…”

“But you never know… some things you’re never too old for.” The sound of the door latch caught their attention then and the King stood, offering Elsa one more smile. “Just give it a chance… okay?”

Elsa breathed a heavy sigh but nodded her head. For her father’s sake… she would give it a chance.

The door opened and Elsa and her father turned towards it, just as the portly butler stepped inside. “Ah, yes,” he said, “here we are, Sire. And look, the King and Princess are already here, isn’t that splendid?”

And then he walked in. No fur obscuring his face now, Elsa could at last see her nemesis. His long, ugly auburn air, his heavy eyebrows, that nose always crinkled as if he were disgusted with everything, and a mouth set into a perpetual frown. Nothing good to be found in _that_ face.

_Look closer…_

Elsa sighed softly to herself as Adam walked in and willed herself to look again, to find something _good_ in that unhappy face… And… well, she supposed his hair wasn’t actually all that ugly… the brows reminded her of one of the sculptures she had seen in the halls and that was supposed to be a work of art, right? Maybe if he didn’t frown so much she might have found he had a decent smile…

As she looked at him Adam tilted his head, his brows knitting together. “What are you staring at?”

Elsa was snapped out of her thoughts and he shook her head as warmth rose to her cheeks. “N-nothing! Nothing.” Her gaze fell quickly after that. She must have looked like a fool…

“Well,” she heard the King say as he turned to face the butler. “Why don’t we leave these two alone? They must have a lot of catching up to do, I’m sure.”

Oh no… Elsa wanted to protest, to beg her father to stay, but it was too late. He and the butler had already reached the door, and the King gave Elsa one last smile and a nod of his head before he left the room. Great… now she was alone with the brat.

 _Look closer, Elsa… find_ something _good about him…_

Elsa took a soft, calming breath before she turned her gaze to Adam again. He cheeks still burned, even as her palms felt icy, but she held her head high. “It’s nice to see you again, Adam,” she greeted politely.

Adam rolled his eyes. “You can drop the act,” he sighed. “I know you don’t like me.”

Perceptive little jerk, wasn’t he? _And whose fault was that?_ Still, Elsa remained poised, letting out no sign of her frustration, save for a soft sigh. “Listen… You don’t want to be here, I don’t like it any more than you do. But for whatever reason our parents make us do this there’s really no way out of it… Can’t we at least try to get along…?”

Adam looked at her with bored, half-lidded eyes a moment before shrugging his shoulders. “I guess… What do you suggest we do, then?”

Now Elsa shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know… what we always do, I suppose.”

Adam scoffed. “We did nothing last time but sit and talk about the weather.”

Yes, and Elsa recalled he had done nothing but complain about a particularly beautiful snowfall… one that she had spent all night concocting, too. “Well we have a big library… do you like books?” The disinterested look on his face was all the answer she needed. “Fine. No books. Well what do _you_ like to do?”

Adam shrugged again and looked down at his fingernails, as if he found them more interesting than his host. “I like to eat… take naps… play outside…”

Elsa’s face brightened. They _did_ used to play outside a lot during these visits, didn’t they? Just as her father said, those had been fairly fun times… so why not try it again? “Well then… let’s go outside!”

Adam looked up at her a moment, turned to peer out the frosted window, then turned to her again. “You’re joking, right?”

“Well…” Elsa wrung her hands. “It’s not _that_ cold. And we used to play in the snow a lot.”

“We were five.”

Elsa frowned, mentally kicking herself for having had that same response. The last thing she wanted was to have something in common with this brat. At last she sighed in defeat. “Well we could go down to the kitchens and see if there’s anything to eat…”

That, at last, got a grin out of the Prince. Not a _smile_ , Elsa noted, but a grin. But it was progress, she supposed. “Alright, let’s go!” Adam turned happily on his heel and headed for the door.

Elsa rolled her eyes before she followed. Did all boys care only about their stomachs? Oh well… this was better than glaring at each other all week, wasn’t it? The kitchen wasn’t hard for the princess to find and, thankfully, the cooks weren’t about at the moment, allowing the pair to slip in unseen. The pots and pans on the stove bubbled and steamed as the evening’s meal cooked.

“Alright,” she whispered, “you can probably take some bread or an apple or something, but Mama doesn’t like when we eat this soon before dinner…”

Adam scoffed as he looked around the room. “She’s not _my_ mother. Why should I care?” He examined this counter and that, peering into pots and cupboards, but nothing seemed to interest him. And then he caught sight of something resting upon a counter on the far side of the room. A great big chocolate cake. “Yes!”

“No!” Elsa, catching sight of the cake as well, was quick to move between it and the prince. “That’s dessert! If we eat it my parents will be furious!”

Adam gave that distinctively-not-smile-like grin again. “It’s just one piece… Do you think anybody’s going to miss it? Besides, your parents _own_ the kingdom, they can get another cake.”

Could they? Elsa wasn’t sure it was as simple as that, but… well it was just a cake… “I’d still get in trouble…”

“Then nobody will ever know it was us.” Adam put his hands on Elsa’s shoulders and she felt taken aback by their warmth. “Come on, I take snacks like this all the time back home, nobody cares.”

“Nobody…?” Well maybe it wasn’t _that_ big a deal… and Elsa did love chocolate…

At last, the princess sighed and stepped aside, allowing Adam to move toward the counter. He found a knife quickly enough and cut himself a generous slice, as well as a more modest slice for Elsa. “Here,” he offered, handing the piece right to Elsa.

She accepted, hesitantly, and crinkled her nose at the chocolate smearing her fingers. “Don’t we at least need plates…?”

By then Adam had already taken a bite out of his cake, and asked with a full mouth, “what for?”

 _Ugh, boys…_ Oh well, Elsa supposed there was no need to stand on ceremony now, not when Adam had already devoured half his slice in a few inhuman bites. Besides, as fast as her heart was beating—and as cold as the cake was becoming in her hand—she knew she had to eat fast and get out of the kitchen before…

“Elsa!”

The children jumped at the voice and turned around fast. Poor Elsa’s face flushed with surprise and shame to see her own mother standing in the doorway with two of the cooks, her hands on her hips. “Elsa,” the Queen continued, “what on Earth are you doing?”

Elsa was rendered speechless. How could her luck be so terrible? How could she be caught the one and only time she ever did something against the rules?

How could she let Adam talk her into it?

Elsa turned to look at her partner-in-crime and, to her annoyance, the Prince stood there with a hand clean of frosting and a face full of false innocence, standing there as if he, too, hadn’t just wolfed down a slice of cake. “It was his idea!” Elsa protested at last. “He wanted something to eat and he saw the cake and—“

“I didn’t think anyone would mind,” Adam chimed in quickly. “Elsa didn’t seem to!”

Elsa gasped. “Liar!”

“Enough…” The Queen sighed, rubbing her temples as though they ached. “Prince Adam, that cake was for dessert tonight. I don’t know how meals are back home, but here we do not spoil our dinners, is that clear?”

Adam rolled his eyes, but with a nod muttered, “Yes, Ma’am…”

“And you, Elsa…” The Queen turned her attention to her daughter, who stood with her head bowed in shame and anger. “Elsa, you should know better. Adam is a guest, but you know the rules. Now both of you go wash up. And don’t expect any cake tonight.”

Great. Not only was Elsa caught stealing cake, she didn’t even get to eat any. Not even the slice she stole. With an annoyed grunt, the princess slammed the now icy piece of cake down onto the counter and stomped out of the kitchen. She grit her teeth as she heard footsteps behind her.

“You should have eaten fast,” Adam sighed. “Like me. Ah well, maybe next time.”

“Next time?” Elsa whirled on the Prince, her hands curled into icy fists and her crystal blue eyes flashing. “You got me in trouble! I told you we shouldn’t take any cake! And then you lied to my mother!” _Not for the first time…_

Adam, at first, stepped back from Elsa, his eyes wide. Quickly enough, however, that familiar scowl was back on his face. “I didn’t lie! You wanted cake just as much as I did, admit it!”

“Well now I won’t have any, will I?” Elsa could feel frost forming over her knuckles now and she was quick to turn away and hide her hands from sight. _Calm down, Elsa, calm down…_

Adam seemed not to notice and he scoffed. “Well don’t blame me, blame your mom. She’s totally overreacting!”

Here Elsa turned to give the Prince and icy glare. Almost literally. “Or maybe _your_ mother just never taught you not to be such a brat!”

Adam had no response to that. He didn’t even offer Elsa an angry or annoyed glare, as she expected. Instead, to her surprise, he instead grew terribly quiet, the emotion draining from his face. Something about it made Elsa’s heart sink, but she couldn’t place why. Was it guilt? No, of course not, why should _she_ feel guilty? _He_ was the one who got her in trouble. She was simply stating facts, right?

Still… Elsa couldn’t take the silence, nor could she bring herself to look at the Prince now. Feeling as cold as ice, Elsa left Adam and retreated to her room where she remained until that evening, laying in her bed where she could watch snowflakes falling from her ceiling.

Dinnertime arrived all too soon for Elsa’s tastes, and the meal itself passed far too slowly. She was keenly aware of her parents’ eyes upon her several times during dinner, and when they weren’t looking at her they were trading glances with each other. Elsa knew this could only mean her mother had told her father everything… Yet another reason for them to be ashamed, she supposed.

Dessert was, of course, the worst part of the meal. Everyone enjoyed a nice, big piece of chocolate cake, none more so than Anna who dove into her share with zeal. But while everyone else enjoyed the treat, Elsa and the visiting prince sat there with empty plates, punishment for their earlier transgression.

Oh, Adam’s butler tried his best to convince the King and Queen to reconsider, of course. A lot of sputtering about ‘boys will be boys’ and ‘of course he’s learned his lesson.’ But her parents remained adamant. Good. If she had to go without, then so should the Prince.

Adam, meanwhile, never spoke during the whole meal. In fact, the only one quieter than him that night was Elsa herself. And even she at least lifted her gaze to look about at the others at the table. Adam never once looked up from his plate, not even when the servants brought cake to the others. He must have been sulking, Elsa decided. He was just still mad he got caught.

So then why did he almost look… sad?

Elsa pushed that thought away quickly, and as soon as dinner was over she retreated to her room. It wasn’t long before her parents tucked both her and Anna into bed, but the elder sister found it impossible to sleep that night.

How was she supposed to find any good in someone like _him_ …?


	2. Warm and Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have a bad habit of finishing things late at night... One more chapter to go in the prologue, and then we can begin the real story!  
> (Also, foreshadowing? Pfff what's that?)

Elsa wasn’t sure if she felt relieved or annoyed when the visiting prince failed to show up for breakfast. He needed his rest… at least that was how the butler tried to excuse away Adam’s over-sleeping.

Well fine. Let him sleep all day, Elsa decided. Without him, breakfast at least felt somewhat normal. Just her, her parents and Anna, sitting down to a nice quiet meal. And with their guests absent, Elsa was able to amuse Anna with a few tricks, like freezing a bowl of porridge solid in its bowl. The younger princess always laughed and clapped her hands at silly things like that, and her laughter was enough to make Elsa forget all about her infuriating guest. 

After breakfast, the sisters wasted no time in getting into their coats—though it was mostly for show for Elsa—and rushing outside to the courtyard. The ground was covered in fresh, sparkling snow which had fallen the night before, but the sky above was clear and bright. A perfect day to play.

Anna laughed and squealed with excitement as her sister pulled her around on their little wooden sled, zipping from one side of the courtyard to the other, just to turn and head right back the way they came. Elsa smiled brightly as well, spurred on by Anna’s cries of “faster, faster!” When she at last tired herself out, Elsa brought the sled to a stop near the castle and sat down beside her sister to catch her breath.

“How come Adam’s not playing?” Anna asked then.

Elsa couldn’t say she was surprised by the sudden query. Anna was good at asking questions, whether anyone wanted to answer them or not. “He didn’t want to,” Elsa explained simply. “He doesn’t like the snow.” _Or me._

Anna looked at her sister with wide, innocent eyes a moment before pointing over her shoulder. “Then how come he keeps looking out the window?”

“The window?” Elsa turned her head and, sure enough, there was Adam’s face. He stood by one of the windows, arms folded on the sill as he watched them through the frosted glass. Of course, the moment Elsa turned to look he was quick to turn his own attention away.

“I think he wants to play,” Anna declared. “Maybe he’s just shy…”

Elsa scoffed. “Him? Shy? No way. He’s too much of a brat to be shy.”

Anna tilted her head. “So you don’t like him? Papa said you were friends.”

Elsa sighed, turning to face her sister instead of the window. “Papa wants us to be friends. But it’s hard.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s selfish. And rude. And dishonest.”

Anna gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in shock. “Adam told a lie?”

“More than one.” Elsa frowned, leaning in close as if she were about to share a secret. “Do you know what he did last time he was here?” Anna shook her head. “He stole something very special to me. Took it right out of my room and hid it.”

Anna gasped once more. “No!”

“Yes!”

“You saw him do it?”

Here, Elsa paused, mouth open and ready to speak, but somehow she found the words difficult to coax out. “Ah… well not exactly… but I know he did it!”

“What did you do??” Anna clasped her hands together, enraptured by the story.

“Well I told him to give it back,” Elsa continued, “but he refused. I even told him I would tell Papa about it. Do you know what he did?” Anna shook her head again. “He tugged my braid and called me a tattletale!”

“Oh no!” Anna’s little hands curled into fists now and she frowned. “The big meanie!”

“Big meanie is right!”

“Humph.” Anna stood suddenly and turned to stomp through the snow right up to the window where Adam, once again, had been watching. He looked very much surprised when the little girl marched over and reached up on her tiptoes to tap on the glass. “You come out here and apologize, meanie!”

Elsa, every bit as surprised as Adam looked, was quick to scramble to her feet and rush to her sister. “Anna! What are you doing?”

“He has to apologize,” Anna stated with a nod of her head.

“Anna, he’s not going to apologize...” Elsa sighed and lifted her sister up, moving her away from the window. “Now come on, let’s just go play…”

“But we gotta wait!” Anna protested. “Adam’s coming to apologize!”

“What?” Elsa looked to the window again and found, to her surprise, Adam was gone. Well, she decided, he must have had enough of being hassled by a five year old… but then, amazingly, she soon saw him stepping out the door. He was bundled, hastily, in his heavy fur coat, but had apparently forgotten his hat.

Anna giggled to herself. “Fluffy…”

Elsa shushed her sister as the Prince approached, though she had to fight back a grin. “Ah, good morning, Adam…” Well, closer to good afternoon now…

Adam scowled at the sisters, folding his arms over his chest. “You expect _me_ to apologize? If anyone should it’s you!”

Elsa blinked, taken aback by his words. “Me? You… Ugh, you’re impossible!” That tore it. Elsa couldn’t even try anymore. She took Anna firmly by the hand and turned to walk away. “Come on, Anna. Let’s go play. We’ll actually have some _fun_ instead of staying in bed all day.”

Adam laughed. “Right. Fun. Running around in the cold, wet snow. You enjoy that!”

“We will!” Elsa snapped.

“Well good then!”

“Yeah, good!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

“Do you wanna make a snowman with us?” Elsa and Adam both stopped at the sound of Anna’s voice, turning to look down at the younger child. Anna looked back with bright eyes and a sweet little smile as she tugged at her sister’s hand. “Elsa, let’s build a snowman. All of us!”

“Wha…” Elsa blinked, amazed. “Anna a second ago you were calling him a meanie…”

“’Cause he is!” Anna nodded her head. “But he’s probably mean ‘cause he’s bored. If he builds a snowman with us he won’t be so bored and mean.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “And what makes you think I’d want to?”

“Because it’s fun!” Anna declared with a smile. “Or we could go sledding, or build snow castles… oh! Or have a snowball fight!”

Elsa thought for sure she caught something in Adam’s face at the mention of a snowball fight. Had she imagined it? The way his brow rose? The slight shift at the corner of his mouth? Whatever it was, it was gone in an instant. But maybe…

“No, Anna,” Elsa sighed, turning as if to walk away with her sister. “Prince Adam wouldn’t ever have a snowball fight with us. He knows he’d lose.”

“Wait, what?” Adam looked at her, head tilted. “What makes you think I would lose?”

Elsa shot the Prince a proud smirk. “Anna and I are the best when it comes to snowball fights. Sorry, but you just wouldn’t stand a chance, _Fluffy_.”

Anna snickered even as Adam fumed, kneeling down to scoop up as much snow into his hands as he could. “I’ll show you who wouldn’t stand a chance…” Adam started to form the snow into a ball, but before he even had a chance a cold projectile hit him in the shoulder, white powder covering his fur coat. “H-hey!”

Elsa laughed. She had already made two more snowballs and she held them now,  ready to throw. “You were going to show me…?”

Adam stared a moment, his brows knit together in confusion. “How did you make those so fast?”

Elsa and Anna exchanged knowing smiles before she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “I told you, I’m just good at it. So why don’t you just give up and go back ins—”

 _Plop!_ A large snowy mass struck Elsa’s dress and sent her falling onto her backside. Adam laughed. “Stop talking,” he taunted, “and start throwing!”

Start throwing? Alright, then… Elsa smiled as she picked herself back up, hand raised to throw again. Before she could fire, however, Adam was quick to run away and duck down behind one of the fountains, no doubt quickly replenishing his own stockpile of snowballs.

“C’mon!” Anna laughed, rushing towards the fountain. “C’mon, Elsa, let’s get him!”

Elsa was happy to follow her little sister’s lead and ran close behind as Anna rounded the fountain. She failed to notice the foot that stuck out in her path, however, until it was too late, and she went sprawling into the snow. She could hear Adam almost howling with laughter.

“Ah, no fair!” Elsa called as she picked herself up.

“Who says?” Adam asked with a bright grin. Elsa half expected him to ambush her then while she was unable to fight back, but to her surprise he only offered her his hand. “You still think I don’t stand a chance?”

Well this was… unexpected. Elsa stared at the outstretched hand a moment, then up at the face of the boy who owned it. Was he being… nice? “Well… maybe a little chance,” Elsa admitted as she took his hand, allowing him to pull her back on her feet. “But only because you fight dirty.”

Adam chuckled. “But you’re smiling. So you must not mind _that_ much.”

Elsa rolled her eyes. “This time… But this isn’t over, Prince Fluffy. Anna and I are going to… wait…” Elsa paused. “Wait, where _is_ Anna?”

The answer came in the form of a small voice crying out “gotcha!” as the prince and princess were pounced upon, Anna laughing as she pushed her elders back down into the snow. “I got you,” she cheered, “I got you good!”

“Anna!” Elsa called, brushing snow from her hair, “you’re supposed to be on my side!”

Adam shook himself like a dog to throw the snow from his coat and his hair. “I guess it’s every prince or princess for themselves,” he declared with a smile, and he promptly tossed a snowball at Anna. Elsa laughed and followed suit, though the five year old was easily able to run from both attacks.

If there had to be fighting, Elsa realized, this was the sort of fight she could enjoy. With snow flying instead of insults, and laughter instead of scowls and bitter silence. Did her enemy think so too, she wondered? He certainly seemed to be enjoying himself… They all seemed to be, in fact, and the frosty war carried on for nearly an hour.

At last, when all three children were out of breath and shivering—well, one child never shivered—it seemed time to call it quits and go back into the castle. The servants, accustomed as they were to Anna and Elsa’s playing in the snow, were quick to take their wet coats and offer warm blankets in exchange, taking the trio to the common room where they could sit on the floor in front of the fire to warm up. In time, hot chocolate was brought to each, and Adam gulped his down in seconds.

Well, Elsa thought, that was one thing she could say about him. Nobody who loved chocolate as much as she and her sister did could be _completely_ awful, could they? He proved a poor influence on Anna, however, as the younger princess tried to down her hot chocolate just as quickly, getting a burned tongue in the process.

“You gotta be careful,” Adam chuckled. “It took me a long time to figure out how not to burn my mouth like that.”

Anna pouted. “Why does hot chocolate have to be hot?” she asked.

“For the same reason ice has to be cold,” Adam reasoned.

“…Oh.” Somehow this answer seemed to make sense to Anna, for she nodded her head gently and smiled. To Elsa’s surprise—and Adam’s, judging by his wide eyes—Anna yawned and rested her head on the Prince’s lap, letting her eyes drift shut. “You’re warm,” she sighed sleepily. “You make a good pillow…”

In seconds the child was fast asleep, and Adam looked to Elsa with a look on his face that almost seemed like fear. “What do I do…?” he whispered.

Elsa laughed gently and took the blanket from around her own shoulders to cover her sleeping sister. “She’s just worn out. Let her sleep for a bit. Somehow, I think she likes you, Fluffy…”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Great. I went from a meanie to a pillow…”

Elsa rolled her own eyes in response. “You know there are worse things than being liked. Or do you enjoy making people hate you?”

Here Adam paused, his gaze falling to the sleeping girl resting against him. “Do… do you hate me?”

Oh… Well… that was a loaded question. If he had asked her that last night, or even just that morning… well maybe then she might have said yes. But now… “No. No, I don’t hate you…” Did he actually care? “But you make me mad a lot. You know you really could try to be nicer.”

Adam scoffed, but there seemed to be little energy behind it. “None of my servants ever say I’m not nice.”

“Your servants are all too scared of you to say so.” If his butler was any indication, anyway…

That seemed to leave the Prince speechless again, and for a moment the room was silent, save for the gentle crackling of the burning log in the fireplace. When Adam finally spoke again, Elsa almost missed it. “Is anyone scared of you?”

A soft sigh escaped the princess as she drew her legs up, hugging her knees as she stared into the dying embers. “I think they might be, sometimes… Just not for the same reasons…”

“What reasons, then?”

Elsa shrugged her shoulders. “It’s hard to explain.”

Thankfully, Adam didn’t push the issue. Instead, the two slipped into silence once more.  Elsa was amazed, really, just how comfortable a silence it was…

Well maybe not completely. Elsa found herself wondering if she should speak, or if she should let him speak first… was it okay if they just stayed silent like this? She didn’t mind, honestly… actually, it was nice. Just sitting there quietly with Anna… with him…

Elsa glanced sidelong at the boy beside her after a few moments. There was no scowl on his face now, but still no smile, either… Why did she wish she could see a true smile from him?

Adam must have noticed her gaze before long, for he slowly turned his head to look back at her. Elsa thought she might snap her eyes away out of embarrassment, but to her surprise they remained locked onto his.

Oh. Oh, there was something. She hadn’t noticed before, but something nice about his face was his eyes… were they always so bright and blue, or did they just look that way in the firelight?

Adam arched a brow at her, his head tilting slightly. “How come you keep staring at me?”

Elsa smiled as she felt warmth rise to her cheeks. “Um… Papa told me to try and look closer, so…”

“Oh… what does that mean?”

Elsa shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. But he thinks we should try to be friends.”

Adam paused, his gaze dropping to the floor as he absently scratched his cheek. “I’ve never had friends…”

“Neither have I, aside from Anna…” Elsa smiled sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders.

Maybe, she thought to herself… Maybe that could change…

\---

The week passed quicker than Elsa had feared. When she first heard of Prince Adam’s impending visit, she had prayed to see it over and done with. Now? Now… oddly enough, she wished only for more time.

The Prince was still a brat, of course. He was rude to his servants, he was selfish and grumpy, and he spent far too much time eating and sleeping as far as Elsa was concerned. But she had looked closer, just as he father told her. What did she see?

Well, when he actually tried to, Adam could actually have fun. He still disliked the cold, so much of the children’s time together was spent inside, exploring the castle, seeing the horses in the stables, playing hide and seek… Anna had even convinced her older playmates one day to perform an intricate little play with her. Anna played the pretty princess with a paper crown, Elsa was the fairy godmother dressed in one of their mother’s old shawls, while Adam was given the role of the terrible monster, complete with a set of horns made from an old pair of twigs. Though he had dismissed the idea as childish, Adam gave in to the younger girl’s demands and played his role well.

That truly amazed Elsa above all else. Adam, more than anyone she had met, carried himself like a royal. He bossed others around when he could, and to those few with more authority than himself he could be arrogant and cold.

But towards Anna? Adam tried to act tough and distant with the five year old, Elsa knew he did, but still the child seemed to grow more and more attached to the Prince each day. Anna had no problem pouting at Adam when he was rude, demanding he be nicer, but in the next few minutes she would be at his side, pulling him along to come see her favorite paintings or her dolls that looked like her and Elsa.

And Adam always would. He would do so under protest, perhaps. But he never denied the young princess anything. If she wanted him to say hello to a painting of Joan of Arc, he said hello. If she wanted him to put twigs on his head and act like a monster, he did it.

Elsa could hardly believe it. But it warmed her heart to see nonetheless. “She’s not so bad,” Adam admitted after Anna’s little play was completed and the princess was taken away for a nap. “One of the servants back home has a bunch of little kids. Compared to them, dealing with Anna is easy.”

Elsa smirked over at her companion as they walked together through the halls of the castle, her hands behind her back. “Admit it… you’re having fun with Anna.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “I can’t help it if she likes me.”

“True… Poor Anna isn’t the best judge of character.” Elsa laughed, gently nudging Adam with her elbow. She got a grunt in return, but it came with a sidelong smirk. Really, if Elsa was being honest, she had enjoyed the Prince’s visit as well… when he behaved himself, that is. And, unless she was imagining things, he seemed to do so more and more over the past week… At least when he was around her. He had a little more patience, a little less arrogance… not much, but a little. Maybe given time, Elsa thought, he might have learned to be an actual human being! What a shame then that he would return home in two days…

Elsa had to shake the thought away before it made her sad… or before she could wonder _why_ it would make her sad. “What do you want to do now?” she asked. “We’ve got some time to ourselves for a change… Why don’t we go ice skating?”

Adam shook his head. “Let’s not…”

Elsa groaned. “Come on, it’s not that cold today…” She liked to think her good mood had helped with that.

“No, it’s not that.” Adam shrugged his shoulders. “I just… I don’t know how to skate.”

“I’m shocked. Really.” She hoped she sounded sarcastic enough. “Come on, I can teach you… I promise I won’t even laugh when you fall down.”

Adam scoffed. “Wow, you’re too kind…” He might have turned her down once more—or who knows, maybe he would have said yes? Elsa could hope.—but when the pair passed the ballroom Adam couldn’t help but hear a lot of commotion within. “Huh… what’s going on in there?”

“Oh.” Elsa paused, turning to the closed doors. “I think some of the servants are decorating.”

“Decorating? For what?” Adam stepped closer to the doors and reached for one of the latches. Elsa couldn’t help but smile when he stopped and looked to her, as if seeking approval instead of just barging inside.

Quietly, Elsa slipped over to the door and opened it just enough for them both to peer within. Inside the ballroom, men and women were busy setting up tables, mopping the floor and hanging garlands and streamers. “It’s for the party,” Elsa whispered before quietly closing the door. “My birthday party. It’s in a few days.”

“I didn’t know your birthday was in a few days…” Adam muttered.

“You never asked,” Elsa teased. “I can’t wait. There will be cake and presents and music… it’ll be so much fun!”

“Huh…” Adam’s gaze dropped to the floor and he scratched his cheek. A habit Elsa had come to notice whenever the Prince seemed troubled. “Too bad I’ll miss that…”

“Oh…” Oh, right… he would be gone in two days. Her birthday was in four days…

There was that odd, inexplicable sadness again…

“Well…” Elsa began, “I mean it won’t be _that_ fun. There’s also a lot of small-talk, everyone wears uncomfortable suits and dresses… ugh, and the dancing.”

Strangely enough, the mention of dancing seemed to catch Adam’s attention. “You don’t like dancing?”

Elsa could feel her face heat up again. “I don’t know how…”

Adam smirked. “Come on, even I know how to dance…”

Elsa tilted her head. “Really?”

“Yeah… why’s that so strange?”

“Oh, it’s not. It’s… it’s actually kind of nice.” Gods, what was she saying? Elsa’s normally cool skin felt blazing now and she was quick to look away. “Um… I should probably go. I think I’d like to talk to my parents about the party.”

“Oh…” Adam sounded strangely… disappointed? Had she imagined that? “Alright. I’ll be in my room then… see you at dinner?”

“Yes, yes,” Elsa nodded her head but never turned around. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

A moment of silence followed before, finally, she heard Adam’s footsteps retreating down the hall. At last the Princess released a breath she hadn’t realized she held and patted icy palms against her cheeks to cool them down. What was wrong with her? She would have been glad to see Adam leaving just a few days ago, now she was dreading it? Ugh!

With a sigh, Elsa turned to walk away. Maybe she could go skating by herself to clear her head. But the moment she turned, Elsa bumped into someone and sent the bundle they carried falling to the floor. “Oh! I’m sorry!” She jumped back and saw a woman standing there. Perhaps the oldest woman she had ever seen, dressed in plain green clothes, with a withered, wrinkled face that almost made the princess gasp. At the old woman’s feet lay a few scattered flowers.

“Oh, dear me…” The old woman chuckled in spite of the accident. “I must be getting clumsier in my old age. Oh, I do hope these flowers are alright.”

Slowly, and with great difficulty, the woman began to stoop down to pick up the flowers. Elsa, feeling a surge of guilt, was quick to kneel down and gather them up herself. “Please, let me help! It was my fault, I’m sorry.” She should have paid better attention. Had she really been so lost in thought she hadn’t even heard this old woman approach?

“Oh, such a kind child,” the woman said with a smile. “You’ll make a wonderful queen someday, your majesty.”

Elsa managed a sheepish smile in return. “I hope so…” Soon, Elsa had all the flowers gathered in her arms, but gasped when she felt a thorn pierce her skin. “Ow!”

“Oh, careful, dearie…” the old woman reached out, carefully taking the bundle from Elsa. “These may be beautiful, but they still have some bite to them.”

“They do…” Elsa nodded her head as she wiped a drop of blood from her arm, turning to stare at the bright red blossoms the old woman carried. “Wow… how did you grow roses in the middle of December…?”

The old crone laughed gently in her throat, looking down at the flowers which, despite the collision, had come through looking as perfect as a picture in a storybook. “Oh, that’s my own secret talent. We all have those, don’t we…? And a princess like you deserves only the best for your birthday. Oh, you must be so excited, dearie!”

Elsa’s face fell a bit at the reminder. “I guess so…”

“Oh… oh, is there something wrong?”

Elsa shook her head gently. “No, no not really. I suppose I just…”

“Hm…” The old woman scratched her bony chin in thought. “Perhaps you wish the young prince could attend…?”

Elsa’s eyes snapped up, locking onto the woman’s haggard face. “How did you…? No, I don’t wish that! I…” At last, a sigh escaped Elsa and she shook her head. “Maybe that is what I wish… but it’s stupid, isn’t it?”

“Why?” The old woman smiled a warm, gentle smile that very nearly made the ugliness melt from her face. “My child, it’s never stupid to desire someone’s company. A good friend is a rare and precious gift.”

Elsa wrung her hands. “But he was so mean and arrogant and… and he still is, even if he’s gotten a little better…”

“Maybe he’ll keep getting better.” The woman nodded her head gently as she slipped past the princess towards the ballroom door. “Sometimes all a cold heart needs is a little care… and a little time…”

A little time… yes… All they needed was a little time… Elsa felt a smile cross her face and she lifted her head. They needed more time. And she would find them more time!

Quick as a shot, Elsa took off down the hall, eager to find her parents. She stopped only to thank the old woman, but when she turned around Elsa saw no trace of her, save for a few rose petals scattered on the floor.


	3. One Winter's Night...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prologue comes to an end as our Prince and Princess each head towards their destinies...

No one in the castle could believe it when they heard Princess Elsa had actually requested the visiting prince be allowed to extend his visit. Not when she had seemed so set against the visit just a week earlier. Just as surprising was the fact that Adam had seemed happy to stay.

He had even asked his servants—asked, not ordered—to send word back home that he would be staying for the Princess’ birthday. The change in attitude was a shock to the Prince’s servants, but not an unpleasant one. His poor butler seemed happier than Elsa had ever seen the man, in fact.

And so did Adam, if she wasn’t imagining things… “Well it just means free cake,” he told her. “And I don’t mind putting off that stupid trip back home.”

“Right…” Elsa had nodded her head, but somehow she felt she could see through Adam’s façade. He _wanted_ to stay.

…Or was that just her wanting him to want to stay?

Gods, that question wouldn’t leave her alone for four whole days. Was this thing with Adam really friendship? Was he really happy to stay, or even improving thanks to her influence? Maybe she just wished it so much that she fooled herself into seeing signs that weren’t there…

And she did want it. There was no denying anymore. The same boy she had thought of as Prince Brat just days before, who had gotten her in trouble and insulted her and stolen from her—Oh, don’t think she had forgotten about that. She would settle that matter yet, she was sure of it—had somehow shown a softer, kinder side. She had looked closer, just like her father told her to.

She wanted to keep looking. But only if he would let her. And that was why she had decided to ask him at the party just what he felt about her.

So it was little wonder that when her birthday arrived at last the princess was a nervous wreck. With so much on her mind, plus the fact that all eyes would be on her that night, the Princess couldn’t help but fidget as her mother brushed her pale blonde hair.

“Elsa, please,” the Queen sighed, “be still.”

“Sorry, Mama…” Elsa sat up straighter in her seat, watching her mother’s reflection in the mirror as she worked.

The Queen smiled at her daughter as she returned to the task at hand. “You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

“No. Maybe…”

The Queen chuckled. “Dear heart, it’s alright to be nervous. Tonight is a big night for you, after all. But you’ll be fine… just try to have fun. It is a party, after all!”

“I guess…” A party where she would find out whether or not she had invested her time and effort in a lost cause… “Mama… what do you think of Adam?”

“Oh… well…” The Queen’s brows scrunched together in thought for a moment, as if she had to struggle for an answer. “Well he’s a handsome young man… I know Anna’s very taken with him. He’s just…”

“A brat?”

The queen shook her head. “I was going to say ‘headstrong.’ And maybe a little spoiled.” She paused, a knowing smile crossing her features. “I think you’ve been a good influence on him though…”

“Really…?” Oh, she hoped so. If there was good in Adam—and she had seen signs of it—she prayed she might be able to bring it out. “Was Papa anything like Adam when you met him?”

“Your Papa?” The Queen laughed. “Oh, well not completely… He was always a very selfless man. But he could be very stubborn… and very impulsive. Once he got an idea in his head, he stuck with it… whether it was a good idea or not.”

Elsa nodded her head. “He said so, too… but he said you helped change him.”

“Did he now?” The Queen smiled thoughtfully as she set the brush aside and began to braid Elsa’s hair. “I suppose I might have helped a little… but your father helped me, too.”

Once she was finished, the Queen wrapped her arms around her daughter and pressed her cheek to Elsa’s, smiling as the pair looked at their reflection in the mirror. Elsa couldn’t help but smile at just how much they looked like each other. “Remember this, dear heart,” the Queen said, “people don’t _really_ change… they grow. Sometimes they grow better, sometimes worse, but they always have the same heart. Don’t ever try to change who someone is, and never change who you are… just find the person who brings out the best in you. And do the same for them, my darling.”

Elsa’s smile brightened as her mother pressed a kiss to her cheek, stepping away to open Elsa’s wardrobe. “Now come along, Elsa. Let’s get you dressed and ready for your party.”

In no time at all, Elsa and her mother had picked out a nice dress. It was a simple thing, made of light blue material with white lace and ribbons. The Queen noted that the colors suited her well, and Elsa had to agree. Once she was dressed, Elsa and her mother went to join the King and Anna, in the ballroom. Elsa could hear music and laughter inside, even before she opened the door.

“Her Majesty, Princess Elsa of Arendelle.” Kai’s voice carried across the ballroom as Elsa stepped inside, and all eyes turned to her. She smiled brightly, though the attention had her feeling very small, and scanned the crowds for familiar faces.  Sure enough, she spotted her father standing near the front of the ballroom, and he offered her an encouraging smile. By his side was little Anna, beaming with excitement as she waved to Elsa. She was dressed in her nicest green dress for the occasion.

And of course there was Kai by the door. Dear Gerda was busy as always, tending to everybody’s needs. There were few guests that night… just a few members of Arendelle’s high society and their children, one or two of her parents’ friends…

And there, at last, she found him. Adam was by the food, of course, staring at the enormous chocolate cake when she entered. Typical, still thinking with his stomach… But where she would once roll her eyes at such a thought, Elsa now found herself smiling.

“I’m glad you didn’t decide to sneak a piece before the party…” she teased as she approached the table.

Adam turned with a smirk. “I tried,” he teased, “but your mother posted guards.”

Elsa had to press a hand to her lips to keep from laughing out loud. “Serves you right, Fluffy…” She took a moment to look the Prince up and down. He was dressed in a ruffled white shirt with a gray coat and trousers, and his unruly auburn hair was pulled back into a short ponytail. Not too bad... “So. What do you think of the party?”

Adam shrugged his shoulders. “It’s alright… a little boring with all these stuffed shirts standing around and talking about politics…”

“Yeah…” Elsa smiled sheepishly and wrung her hands. “Sorry…”

“Oh, no.” Adam laughed. “No, I expected that. Parties are the same back home. But um… the decorations are nice.”

“Yeah?” Elsa took a moment to look about the ballroom, at the lamps and the tables and the streamers… and she couldn’t help but notice every vase in the room was filled with bright red roses, looking as fresh and lovely as the day they were delivered. She saw more than a few guests staring at the flowers, no doubt wondering just how such lovely plants could have bloomed in the winter.

“That’s my own secret talent,” the old woman had told her. “We all have those, don’t we…?”

 Maybe, Elsa thought to herself, one day she would be able to share that secret…would Adam still hate the cold, she wondered, if he knew of her powers? “I love the flowers,” said Elsa. “Mother must have ordered them. I love roses, don’t you?”

Adam shrugged his shoulders. “I guess if you’re into flowers…”

Elsa rolled her eyes, nudging the Prince with her elbow. “You’re so good at making conversation…”

Adam nudged back. “Alright, then what do you suggest? Do we keep standing here talking about decorations?”

“Okay, okay, you’re right… it’s a party, we should try to have fun.” But how…? They couldn’t eat yet, Elsa would have to wait until later for her presents…

It was only when the band began to play a gentle, upbeat tune that Adam had a suggestion. “I guess we could dance…?”

“Dance?” Elsa looked up and saw couples pairing off on the dance floor, gliding along to the music. Her cheeks felt hot again. “Oh… no, I told you, I don’t dance…”

Adam snickered. “Anybody can dance… look, even Anna’s dancing.” Sure enough, the little princess was there on the dance floor with the king, standing on his toes and holding his hands as he moved to the music, laughing the whole time.

“Come on,” Adam continued, “I can teach you…”

That didn’t help the heat in Elsa’s cheeks, but she turned to Adam with a smirk. “If you wouldn’t let me teach you how to skate why should I let you teach me how to dance?”

“Fine, fine…” Adam sighed, “let me teach you how to dance now and… next time I come you can teach me to skate. Deal?”

Next time… Was he saying he wanted there to be a next time…? “Well… if you promise…”

“Yeah, I promise.” Adam held out his hand to Elsa and… and he smiled? Elsa could hardly believe what she was seeing.

It was no smirk, no grin… it was warm and friendly and genuinely happy. A true smile at last! It made Adam’s blue eyes shine… and Elsa’s heart beat faster.

At last, Elsa placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her out to the dancefloor. With a nervous gulp, Elsa placed on hand in Adam’s palm, the other resting on his shoulder, and she tried to move in time with his steps.

It wasn’t as easy as Anna made it look. With each misstep and every awkward move Elsa squeaked out a soft apology. And yet Adam never once lost his patience with her… “You know,” she laughed, “you’re almost acting like a human being tonight…”

Adam laughed as well. “Well consider it my present to you. You wanted me to be nice, didn’t you?”

“Well don’t strain yourself on my account…” She was teasing, of course… well, mostly.

They made a turn then, and Elsa let out a breathless gasp as she was twirled about. But, to her surprise, she hadn’t lost her footing. “See?” Adam asked. “You’re getting better.”

“I guess so…” Elsa beamed proudly as they danced, making fewer mistakes with each step. “How did you learn to dance?”

“Oh, it’s just one of those things I’m expected to know… dancing, making small talk, sitting still for portraits…”

Elsa made a face as though she had tasted a sour grape. “I hate sitting for portraits…”

“Me, too.”

“But you don’t seem to hate dancing…”

“No, I guess not…”

Elsa’s eyes dropped from Adam’s and came to rest at his collar for a moment. In time, the steps came naturally enough to the princess that she was able to think, and think she did. “You don’t seem to hate me, either…”

At last it was Adam who missed a step, and Elsa nearly froze—pun not intended. “I—I never hated you.”

“No…?” Elsa chuckled in spite of herself. “You had a funny way of showing it…” She paused, then. “Well I suppose I did, too…”

Adam nodded his head. “So… you don’t hate me, either…?”

Elsa shook her head and lifted her gaze to his again. “No… you’re not as bad as you wanted people to think, Adam. In fact, I… well…”

_Come on, Elsa, don’t clam up now…_ She just had to come out and say it. _I like you. I want to be your friend, I want to get to know you better._ Why was that hard to admit?

“Do you want to come visit me?”

Adam’s voice had taken the Princess completely off-guard. “Wait, what…?”

Was she imagining that tinge in his cheeks? “Well I mean, I’m always the one being dragged off to Arendelle, and always in the winter, but… Well I mean, if you’d like to see Gévaudan, the mountains are really nice in the summer…”

He wanted her to visit… He wanted her to see his home, to spend even more time with her… “Summer?”

“Yeah, next summer. Anna could come too… I mean, I guess if you really wanted to bring her.”

Next summer. He wanted to see her again in just a few months, rather than years. He even wanted Anna along, oh she would be so excited! Would Papa allow them to go? What about her powers…?

Elsa brushed away the thoughts, the worries and the what-ifs and gave Adam a bright smile. “Next summer… maybe we’ll actually get to play outside.”

Adam smiled back, eagerly nodding his head. “Yeah. Yeah, we will.”

“I can’t wait.” She really couldn’t. Elsa’s smile only grew as they continued to dance, on and on until the music finally stopped. This, she thought to herself, was the best birthday she had ever had.

\---

Never had the young Prince seemed so bright or cheerful as he had after the night of the party. Even on the trip back to Gévaudan, a trip Adam always loathed, he found not one reason to complain. When he returned home, the servants at the castle were shocked to see such a change in their young Master.

“I believe the Princess of Arendelle has had an amazing effect on the lad,” the butler whispered to the others. “The difference is astonishing!”

“I can’t believe it,” the castle maître d’ exclaimed—though not too loudly. “I was afraid zis visit would end in disaster like ze last!”

“I always hoped they’d get along better in time,” the head housekeeper added. “And bless me, it looks like that day’s come sooner than I thought it would!”

“And you say she’s coming in a few months? Strange, ze King of Arendelle seemed insistent zese visits occur in ze winter time…”

“Well,” the butler continued, “the young Master and the Princess seem eager to change that. Princess Elsa intends to write just as soon as she can get an answer from her father on the matter.”

And they didn’t have long to wait. A letter from Arendelle arrived in record time, announcing excitedly that the King of Arendelle had agreed to schedule the trip to Gévaudan the following summer, immediately after Princess Anna’s birthday!

“He seemed reluctant,” Elsa’s letter explained. “But Papa and Mama are just so happy to see Anna and I make a friend—you’d better consider Anna your friend, Adam, she adores you after all—that he can’t deny us a chance to spend time together. Mama also thinks it will be good for us both to see more of the world. I can’t wait for summer!”

Neither could Adam. The moment he received Elsa’s letter, the Prince had the entire staff begin preparations. The castle was cleaned from top to bottom until it literally shone in the sunlight. Menus were prepared in advance with all manner of rich, chocolate confections selected. Seldom-used guest rooms were prepared for the coming visitors, with the best one saved for the Princesses themselves. For the youngest princess, Adam even had a chest full of his old, unused toys dug out of storage. Even the gardens surrounding the castle received special attention the moment the weather was warm enough, with several rose bushes planted just for Elsa.

It was months and months of planning and work, but it was work the servants were happy to perform. Their Master had never seemed so enthusiastic about anything before, and his enthusiasm was contagious.

The Prince and Princess continued to trade letters as the months passed by. Elsa’s hand-written notes informing Adam of hers and her sister’s well-being and day-to day activities—including sitting for portraits, much to her distaste—and her excitement for summer, while Adam’s letters, dictated but not read, excitedly informed her of all the preparations and plans. Life continued in this hectic, happy manner for months, until May had come and gone.

And then, just days before the Princesses were scheduled to arrive, a letter came to the castle. Not from Elsa, but from the King.

Elsa would not be coming that summer. What’s more, it was announced that Arendelle would be closing its gates indefinitely. No one understood why… not the servants, not the Prince… The news had come as a shock to all.

None more so than Adam. For the entire day after the letter’s arrival he had shut himself up in his room in the west wing, neither speaking to his subjects nor eating his meals. At last, the head housekeeper braved entering the large, dimly lit chamber and found the Prince staring out the window with a deep frown upon his face.

“Come now, luv,” she whispered, “I know you must be disappointed… but you can’t stay shut up like this forever…”

“Why not?” Adam snapped. “Elsa’s shut herself off, hasn’t she? Why can’t I?”

The housekeeper sighed gently. “Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t her choice… there must be a good reason…”

Adam shook his head. “I was stupid. I was stupid to try and have friends… to think anyone cared. Not even my father cared about me.”

“Oh, luv…”

“Go away!”

The poor woman winced as though she had been slapped in the face. But, silently and obediently, she backed out of the Prince’s room and left him alone.

In time, Adam did finally venture out of his room. He returned to his life as normal, eating meals alone, wandering the halls alone…but he was never as happy as he had been those last few months. In fact, the previous months’ efforts only seemed to remind him of his pain and made the Prince angrier than ever before, and on a particularly dark day he even ordered every rose bush on the grounds be torn up by the roots as he could no longer stand the sight of the flowers. He grew more irritable and withdrawn with each passing day now, his temper becoming more and more unchecked as any shred of selflessness he had seemed to melt away. And with the arrival of the cold winter months, when he saw the snow falling across the mountainside, his mood only grew fouler.

And so it went, week after week, month after month, until three years had passed. Though the castle still shone from without, its inhabitants within lived in darkness and unhappiness under the rule of their unkind Master, until one dark night, in the midst of a blizzard, when an old beggar woman came to the door…


	4. The Years Rolled By...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part Two begins as Elsa and Anna go on a journey to find their old friend. But the trip may prove a dangerous one...

Part 2

~A New Tale~

Anna had never seen a forest so dark…

Well, not that it was a bad kind of dark! Not dark like dark and depressing or scary—well okay, kind of scary—but dark as in dark and mysterious and fascinating. Like something out of a storybook!

To think, just a few months ago Anna could have only dreamed of an adventure like this. And now, here she was in a faraway land, in a carriage riding through this dark, storybook forest, surrounded by new sights and new experiences! Best of all, she had her dear sister by her side through it all.

Now if only Elsa could enjoy it as much as she was… Anna turned her attention from the carriage window to glance at her sister, seated next to her. Elsa, like her, had spent much of the journey from Calais staring out the window at the passing scenery, but where Anna watched with wide-eyed excitement Elsa’s gaze was distant and thoughtful, as though she barely noticed the landscape at all.

Poor Elsa…Anna had noticed her anxiety grow from the moment their ship left Arendelle to their arrival in France just a few days before. Was she scared to be so far from home? Was she worried about the kingdom?

Maybe it was simply the nature of their trip that had her nervous…

“You think we’ll be in Gévaudan soon?” Anna asked.

“Hm?” Elsa turned her head and offered Anna a small smile. “Oh--I think so, yes.  It’s only a six day ride from Calais… so the maps said, anyway.”

Anna nodded her head. “You must be relieved. I don’t think you’ve liked traveling very much…”

“What makes you say that?”

“Elsa, come on. I know you’re nervous.”

Elsa breathed a gentle sigh. “Is it that obvious…?”

“Just a little…?” Anna chuckled before slipping an arm around Elsa, giving her sister a comforting hug. “Are you scared?”

Elsa laughed as she returned Anna’s embrace. “Why should I be scared? We brought enough guards with us…”

“True…” Between the two men driving their carriage and the four additional guards who rode alongside on horseback Anna couldn’t imagine a bandit foolish enough to try and rob them. Not to mention Elsa’s powers… “Are you worried about Arendelle, then? You know I made Kristoff and Olaf promise to keep an eye on the castle.”

Elsa rolled her eyes. “An ice seller and a snowman protecting Arendelle… so reassuring…”

“And a reindeer!” Anna nodded her head. “Sven’s a good guard-deer and you know it!”

“Alright,” Elsa laughed, “I admit it. But that’s not what’s bothering me, either…”

“Then what?” Anna snuggled closer, resting her head on Elsa’s shoulder. “Are you nervous about seeing _him_ again…?”

Elsa didn’t answer at first. Her smile faded as she turned her attention to the window once more, staring out at a distant mountain. “It’s been so long, Anna,” Elsa whispered at last. “No one has heard from Adam in ten years… I was almost certain he would have come to the coronation, but…”

Anna nodded her head. “Well…that’s why we’re here! We’ll find out what he’s been up to and then rebuild relations between Arendelle and Gévaudan!”  There had been a lot of rebuilding relations after the gates had been reopened… Of course some simply couldn’t be salvaged. Weselton, for one, had severed all ties with Arendelle, but no loss there. And of course the Southern Isles weren’t exactly the Kingdom’s best allies, but they never had been. And Anna couldn’t care less about _that_ kingdom.

Gévaudan though… that territory had become even more of a mystery to the world than Arendelle, it seemed. The young prince was known to be reclusive after his father’s death, certainly, but apparently ten years ago all mention of him or his castle simply vanished. No one heard from the Prince, and all efforts to send a message were met with silence. Elsa had learned this in the weeks following her coronation, when she tried to reopen communication with Prince Adam.

“What if we don’t find him?” Elsa asked. “Worse, what if we find out something happened to him…?”

“Or…” said Anna, “maybe we _will_ find him, and maybe he’ll be fine! Won’t that make you happy?”

Elsa shrugged her shoulders. “What if he’s not happy to see me?” Another sigh escaped the queen and she leaned back in her seat. “I mean we didn’t exactly get along most of the time as children. I thought that might change, but…”

Anna tried to give her sister a bright, reassuring smile. “I think he liked you.”

“You were five…” Elsa smirked. “You didn’t even remember him until I mentioned him last month…”

“I remember just fine!” Okay, maybe not… she _did_ remember Adam. Just not really how he looked… how he sounded… she remembered he was good at throwing snowballs and playing monsters… Oh, she definitely remembered that silly fur coat of his… but she was certain she remembered what was important. She remembered that he and Elsa argued a lot, but she also remembered the way they looked at each other… She wished for years for someone to look at her like that…

“We’ll find him,” Anna said with certainty. “We’ll find him, and then you two will have all the time you need to catch up.”

Elsa turned to Anna with a small smile. “And you think he’ll forgive me for shutting him out all those years…?”

Anna smiled back and gave her sister a tight hug. “I know I did. And if he won’t… well, he’s gonna have to answer to me!”

The sisters laughed at that as the carriage continued down the path past the woods. In time, they arrived at the outskirts of a small but bustling village.

Once the riders and carriage came to a stop the guards dismounted, one opening the carriage door with a bow of his head for the Queen and Princess. As Elsa and Anna stepped down at looked about at the quaint little buildings and the villagers Anna couldn’t help but feel a bit of confusion. “This is Gévaudan?”

“According to the maps,” one guard explained.

“Isn’t it a bit… small?”

“This is just one village, Anna,” Elsa explained. “Gévaudan is a territory, not a kingdom. But we are looking for a castle, so if anyone knows where it is it will be these people.” Elsa turned to walk further into the village. “I’m going to ask around. Stay with the carriage, Anna.”

“What?” Anna frowned. “Why can’t I come along?”

“We don’t want to make a scene. I’ll just ask some questions and be right back.”

Make a scene? Anna? When did she ever make a scene? …Okay so maybe once or twice… but here? In this simple village Anna could have fit in just fine in her simple tan dress and her hair in its usual braids. Elsa was the one who stood out with her grace and beauty and her sparkling blue dress.

Anna pouted and folded her arms across her chest as Elsa walked away into the village. Wait by the carriage… How was Anna to have any kind of adventure being stuck by the carriage?

**_Boom!_ **

The sudden shot made Anna jump out of her skin, and each of the guards snapped to attention, ready to pounce if danger reared its head. For two seconds afterward there was silence, and then a dull plop at Anna’s feet. She looked down and saw a poor dead goose, shot right out of the sky.

“What on Earth…?” Anna looked up from the goose at her feet and saw two men approaching, one carrying a smoking blunderbuss in his hands. A literal smoking weapon… that had to be a first, Anna thought.

“You never miss a shot!” the shorter of the pair declared as he approached the dead goose.

“I know,” the taller man carrying the gun said with a smirk, blowing the smoke away.

Anna wrinkled her nose as she watched the taller man. He was tall, with a muscular build and chiseled features… She shuddered to think she might have found him handsome at one time, but now his smug grin made her skin crawl. “Excuse me,” she said, placing her hands on her hips, “do you make it a habit to go shooting birds right over people’s heads?”

The men looked up at Anna and the guards as if they had only just then noticed they were standing there. “What?” the shorter man scoffed. “It’s not like Gaston is hurting anybody.”

“Well he could!” Anna waved a hand at the comically large gun. “What if you shoot somebody by accident?”

The men laughed out loud. “I only hit what I aim at,” the taller man, Gaston, boasted. “LeFou here said it best. I never miss a shot!” The man laughed again and slapped his companion LeFou on the back. LeFou fell face-first to the ground from the force of it.

Anna rolled her eyes. “Well if your aim is equal to your ego then I guess there’s nothing to worry about, right?”

“Exactly!” Gaston flashed a bright smile, obviously oblivious to Anna’s jab. “But you must be new in town… Everybody here knows what a good shot I am!”

“We’re just visiting.” And the sooner they left, Anna decided, the better. It was like talking to Hans… if Hans had twice as many muscles and half the brains.

“We?” Gaston looked Anna up and down, then around at the guards who remained at the ready, each watching the stranger and his weapon carefully. “And who might ‘we’ be, Miss…?”

“Joan,” Anna lied. “And these are my uncles.”

LeFou looked at Anna, then at the guards, then at Anna again. “I don’t see much family resemblance…”

Gaston nudged his companion into silence. “”Well… Joan… what brings you to my fair village?”

Anna folded her arms and considered telling the hunter it was none of his business before she remembered Elsa’s mission. If this Gaston was as important in the village as he acted, surely he would have answers, right? “We’re actually looking for someone. A prince?”

Gaston smirked. “A prince, huh? Well what girl isn’t?”

“This girl, actually. It’s my sister trying to find him.”

“Well if she’s as pretty as you, I’ve been told _I_ have a royal face…”

Oh Gods, Anna had to fight the urge to gag. “Look, I’m serious! There was a prince whose family ruled over this territory and they had a castle around here, do you know where we can find them or not?”

At this the pair exchanged questioning glances. “Nobody’s heard from them in years,” LeFou muttered. “Everyone just assumed the prince died ten years ago, right? During that bad blizzard?”

Anna’s heart sank. “Died… No, that can’t be right!”

“Well it’s what I heard. As for castles, isn’t there supposedly that one castle up in the mountains?”

“Right…” Gaston stroked his chin in thought. “That _was_ the prince’s castle, wasn’t it? Nobody goes there anymore. Some people think it’s haunted.”

“Do you know the way?” Anna asked.

Gaston seemed to think it over a moment before he pointed out a path out of the village towards the mountains. “Down that way there’s a fork in the road with an old signpost. If you go right, it takes you up the mountain. That’s all I know.”

“Old signpost, go right,” Anna muttered to herself, memorizing the directions. “Great! We should get going right away! Oh, um…” Anna looked down and carefully nudged the dead goose towards the men with her foot. “I think this belongs to you…”

Gaston nodded to LeFou and the short man was quick to grab the dead bird and stuff it into a sack. “Well, I doubt you’ll find anything up there,” said Gaston. “Nothing but ghosts, anyway. But feel free to come back with that sister of yours, Joan… we could use more pretty faces around here.”

Anna all but cringed as the hunter winked at her, tossing his blunderbuss into LeFou’s arms as he turned to saunter away. LeFou followed like an obedient puppy, just as Elsa came walking back to the carriage. “Who was that?” she asked.

Anna groaned. “Don’t ask… let’s just say I’ll be glad to get out of here.”

Elsa sighed. “Me, too… I asked everyone I saw, but no one knows what happened to Adam…”

Anna winced. “Did… did anyone have any theories…?”

“Too many. Some say he ran off to Paris, some say he was exiled, some say he lost his family’s fortune and had to take up farming…”

Well, Anna thought, at least she hadn’t heard the most depressing theory… “How about the castle?”

Elsa shook her head. “Nobody knows. Or if they do they seemed too scared to talk about it…”

Anna smiled brightly. “Then have I got some good news for you…”

\---

Elsa was having severe second thoughts. Well, she had been ever since they left Arendelle, but now? Now they were riding down a dusty, ill-used old path surrounded on both sides by creepy, dying trees, following the directions of a man Anna herself claimed to be ‘as bad as Hans, if not worse.’

“But I have a good feeling about this,” Anna had said. “I’m sure the castle is up there, somewhere. We’re gonna find it and we’re gonna find him!”

Elsa wished she had her sister’s optimism… she hadn’t had the heart to tell Anna, but the most prevalent of those theories regarding the Prince’s fate said he had gotten sick ten years before. That a particularly nasty blizzard had hit the land that year, and that the cold had claimed the poor boy’s life… Maybe they had made the trip for nothing…

But Anna was persistent. She insisted that they had to try, and so try they would. But as the carriage reached the signpost and Elsa peeked out the window to see the various signs, all with the destination scratched away by time, she felt very uneasy. “Driver,” she called, “go left… but not too far. If we don’t see any sign of the castle before nightfall we’re heading back to the village.”

“We can’t just give up…” Anna said as Elsa ducked her head back inside and the carriage moved forward. “Elsa we came all this way…”

“We’re not giving up,” said Elsa, “but we’re not taking chances. These woods won’t be safe after dark and it’s not worth it to risk our safety.” No matter how much she wanted to find answers…

Anna sighed, sinking back into the cushions of the carriage seat as they rode on. “Fine… but if we don’t find him today we’re trying again first thing in the morning.”

Elsa chuckled. “You almost seem more anxious to find him than I do.”

“I’m anxious to see you happy…”

Elsa turned to Anna, brows raised. “Anna… Anna, I _am_ happy. I’m happy with you, and with Olaf and Kristoff and Sven… you know that.”

“I know…” Anna sat up, folding her hands in her lap. “I know you’re happy. But I also remember how excited you were all those years ago to come and visit Adam… how anxious you’ve been the last few months wondering what happened to him…”

Elsa couldn’t deny either point… she _had_ been anxious about Adam’s fate. Ever since her coronation day, when she both feared and hoped she would see his face there in the crowd, among the other nobles and dignitaries… and then when she hadn’t, it made an already difficult day even darker…

Well, with all the excitement that followed, Elsa had had a temporary reprieve from thoughts of her childhood friend. Between escaping a kingdom and thwarting an evil prince’s attempts at conquest and discovering the long-forgotten secret to her powers there had been little time to think about the past. But then, in the following days, when she had tried in vain to contact Adam, her anxiety returned with a vengeance.

It had taken all the courage Elsa had to finally decide to embark on a journey to find her long-lost friend… and it had taken Anna days of begging before the Queen allowed her to tag along. Elsa was beginning to wonder if she had made a mistake…

A howl in the distance woke Elsa from her thoughts. Then came another, and another still. Each howl seemed to come closer than the last, and both Elsa and Anna peered out the window to investigate. There, congregating just beyond the trees, they could see a growing number of silhouettes and glowing eyes, stalking the carriage and horses.

“Wolves,” Anna breathed. “Oh no, no, no. I _hate_ wolves…!”

“It’s okay,” Elsa whispered as she watched the gathering, glowing eyes. “I think we’re safe. A wolf would have to be pretty aggressive to attack a group like this.”

Apparently, then, these wolves were quite aggressive indeed. Within moments, the large pack had moved towards the travelers, howling and snarling to each other. The carriage drivers and the guards on horseback all whistled to their steeds and urged them on faster, but the wolves were just as swift, snapping at the legs of the poor horses.

Elsa frowned at the beasts and quickly threw her magic in small, cold bursts at their feet in hopes of scaring them off or slipping them up. Against the sheer numbers of wolves surrounding the carriage, however, it did little good.

Anna cried out as a wolf tried to jump at the carriage, while one of the guards was thrown from his horse. Elsa silently cursed herself for allowing this to happen and doubled her efforts, striking wolves directly now with her magic. But between the frozen wolves which fell under the horses feet and the increasingly icy ground beneath the carriage wheels the driver was finding it harder and harder to keep control, until finally the whole thing toppled over.

The crash sent Anna and Elsa tumbling about inside the carriage as it fell to its side, and they landed together in a heap. Elsa could hear the wolves outside and quickly climbed out, finding one of the men fighting off the animals with his sword while the other cut the reins and let the horses escape.

With a scowl, Elsa threw an icy wind at the wolves, pushing them back with terrible force. “We have to get out of here,” she ordered the men. “Both of you help Princess Anna to safety!”

“Excuse me?” Anna’s voice came from inside the carriage before she finally pulled herself up and out of the window. “You mean get us _all_ to safety, right?”

“Anna, don’t argue!”

“Oh, no, I’m _going_ to argue!” Anna frowned as she stumbled down from the wreck of the carriage. “You are _not_ staying behind!”

“Anna--!” Before Elsa could argue further the wolves returned in full force. It was all the guards could do to fight them back with their swords, while Elsa held them at bay with her ice and winds.

Anna, however, had no such defenses. And the wolves picked up on that quickly. With snapping jaws, several of the creatures turned their attention to the redhead, rounding Elsa and the men to go after the easier prey.

Anna gave an alarmed cry and turned to run. “Elsa! Help!”

Elsa’s head jerked around at the sound of Anna’s voice and she saw a group of wolves chasing her off into the woods. “Anna!”

Elsa ran after them, blasting away any wolf who tried to get in her way. The dark, untamed forest grew wilder and denser the further she ran, branches and brambles catching at her clothes and scratching her skin as she rushed by, but she never stopped or slowed.

“Elsa!” Anna’s voice could be heard up ahead, mingled with the growling and barking of wolves, and Elsa pushed on ever faster.

At last, she found her sister braced against a tree, swinging a fallen branch to keep the animals at bay. In a flash, one of the wolves grabbed Anna’s club in its jaws, yanking the weapon away. Anna cried out in fear and shut her eyes as the creature leaped at her, waiting for the killing blow… but it never came.

When Anna finally dared open her eyes, she was met with the sight of jaws filled with pointed teeth, open and ready to bite… but unmoving. The wolf was frozen solid, raised up on its hind legs in mid-strike.

The others were quick to run now, whimpering in fear of the icy magic, and Elsa rushed past the frozen wolf to her sister’s side. “Anna! Anna, are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine…” Anna stared at the once-living ice sculpture a moment, her eyes wide and her breath shaky. "I'm fine…”

In a moment, Anna collapsed to her knees, clutching her arm. Elsa sank down to examine her, and noticed with a gasp that a red pool of blood had formed beneath her. “Oh, no… no, no, no…” Elsa looked Anna over quickly and saw a terrible gash in her arm. “Anna, what happened?”

“Th-this…?” Anna laughed weakly. “One of those dumb wolves… they got a lucky shot in, I guess… But I knocked him over the head for it!” Anna smiled proudly before wincing in pain. “Oww…”

Elsa frowned as she quickly ripped a strip of cloth from her skirt. “Here. Let’s get you bandaged up and get back to the carriage…” If she could find it, anyway… as Elsa wrapped the cloth tightly around Anna’s wound she looked about at their surroundings and found nothing but trees all around, with no sign of the direction they had come. Worse, clouds had gathered overhead, and thunder signaled the approach of a storm.

“We shouldn’t have come out here,” Elsa muttered as she finished dressing Anna’s arm. “Oh, Anna, I’m so sorry…”

“What? No…” Anna shook her head, though she looked weaker by the second. “No, Elsa, this is not your fault. We’ll be okay…”

“I hope so…” Carefully, Elsa helped Anna to her feet. Letting Anna lean against her, she carefully moved away from the direction the wolves had run. The last thing they needed was to run into them again.

The sisters wandered for what felt like an hour without any sign of the road or the carriage, while Anna began to feel weaker and heavier in Elsa’s arms with every passing minute. Rain had begun to fall, but around the pair it turnd to snow, while frost and began to form on the ground and trees around them as the Queen’s fear grew. Elsa had to silently remind herself to keep it together, to not let her emotions get away from her.

“Elsa, the castle…” Anna’s voice was tired and distracted.

“I know,” Elsa muttered. “I know you wanted to find the castle, Anna but it’s more important to get you help now.”

“No…” Anna shook her head and pointed up over the trees. “The castle…”

Elsa turned and there, looming ahead of them, she could see a tall tower rising into dark clouds above. Could it really be…?

As quickly as she could, Elsa carried Anna towards the tower until they came to a long stone bridge, guarded by grotesque stone gargoyles perched on either side. At the other end of the bridge was a large, iron gate, and beyond that stood a tall, dark castle. A flash of lightning caused the shadows of more hideous statues to jump from their posts all over the structure. Surely this couldn’t be the castle they were looking for, could it…?

“It’s creepier than I imagined…”Anna chuckled, resting her head on Elsa’s shoulder.

“Really creepy…” Elsa agreed. But a clap of thunder reminded the Queen that they had very limited options, and that creepy shelter in a storm was better than none at all. Taking a calming breath, Elsa carried Anna across the bridge, wary of the fearsome statues as they passed their cold, stony gaze.

_I really hope this isn’t another mistake…_


	5. Be Our Guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa and Anna find shelter in a strange castle, but soon find its inhabitants to be stranger still.

The castle had seemed creepy enough on the outside, dark and covered in gargoyles as it was, but after carrying Anna past the bridge, the creaky iron gate, the wide, empty courtyard and the enormous wooden doors, Elsa found that the inside was even spookier.

An enormous foyer waited just inside the front doors, with high, vaulted ceilings and ornate columns—complete with more gargoyles, Elsa noted—to hold them up. Across the floor stretched a bright red carpet, leading from the doors to a grand staircase. It was the sort of architecture that any king would be jealous of.

And yet the ornate room was dark, with only a single candelabra left on a table by the door providing light, and as quiet as it was empty. Only the ticking of a clock set beside the candelabra broke the silence. It reminded Elsa more of a tomb than a castle, with dust covering the floors and cobwebs in the corners. Was the castle abandoned?

“Hello?” Elsa called out, her voice echoing for a few seconds. “Is anyone here? Please, we need some help.”

Not counting her own voice reverberating off the walls, Elsa was given no response other than silence.

And then there came a whisper, too soft to make out. And then another. “Is someone there?” she called again.

“Not one word,” a voice muttered nearby, “not one word!”

“Elsa?” Anna lifted her heard tiredly. “I think I’m sick… the clock is talking…”

“Shh…” Elsa petted Anna’s hair soothingly. “Shh, you’ll be okay.” To whoever was whispering Elsa said, “please, my sister is badly hurt. She needs medical attention!”

“Oh, have a heart,” a second voice whispered to the first. “We cannot turn zese poor girls away.”

“But what will _he_ say?” the first voice demanded. “If he finds out we brought in two strangers…”

“Oh, you worry too much!” The second voice spoke up then. “Welcome, Mademoiselles!”

“Who said that?” Elsa asked. She looked around the room but saw no one. “Where are you?”

“It was the candles this time,” Anna mumbled. “The nice candles over there…”

Anna must have been in worse shape than Elsa feared. She looked over at the table at the candlesticks and chuckled in spite of herself. “Anna, candles don’t…”

Or did they? As Elsa looked at the candelabra she could have sworn she saw a face smiling back at her. And then it actually spoke. “’Allo.”

Elsa jumped back, startled, and held Anna protectively. “What—How are you--?!”

“Oh, please!” The candelabra jumped down from the table and hopped over to them, holding two candles up like hands. “Please, Mademoiselle, do not be afraid! You are welcome here!”

For a moment, all Elsa could do was stare. A talking candlestick? How was that possible? …Well, then again, she had a talking snowman back home… “Heehee,” Anna laughed sleepily. “Nice candle…”

“Lumière!” the first voice called out. “What do you think you are doing?!” Elsa looked over and saw the clock moving now, climbing down to the floor to toddle over on its stubby legs.

The candelabra— Lumière seemed to be his name—turned to the clock with a frown. “Come, Cogsworth, what’s ze harm in helping zem out?”

“You mean _aside_ from nearly giving the young lady a heart attack?”

“Silly clock…” Anna mumbled.

Lumière motioned towards her. “Zere, you see? Zis poor girl needs help!”

Cogsworth turned to look up at Elsa and her sister, his clock-hands mustache twitching as he seemed to struggle with a decision. “Oh… Oh, alright. We’ll let them rest a moment, bandage her up and send them on their way. But we must be quiet!”

“Of course, of course…” Lumière muttered before turning to give the ladies a low bow. “Please, follow me. We’ll get a nice, warm fire started for you while you!”

“A fire?” Cogsworth jumped at the word and rushed to follow as Cogsworth led Elsa and Anna away. “Now see here, I never agreed to a fire!”

Lumière ignored his companion as he led the sisters from the foyer into a cozy little sitting room with a couch for Elsa to lay Anna on. True to his word—and contrary to Cogsworth’s demands—Lumière started a fire in the fireplace. Even Elsa was grateful for the warmth as it filled the room.

Then, to Elsa’s surprise, she found that they were not alone in the room. A coat rack had begun to move, just as Lumière and Cogsworth had, and draped a blanket over Anna before tipping its hat to Elsa. A tea cart zipped over, though there was no one there to push it, and a teapot with kind eyes nudged over a cloth and some fresh bandages before filling a washtub with warm water. “’Ere we are, luv,” she said. “Let’s get the poor dear’s arm cleaned up and taken care of.”

“Oh… thank you.” Elsa smiled thankfully as she took the cloth, soaking it in the warm water to clean Anna’s arm.

“Alright, this has gone far enough,” Cogsworth objected, “let’s just get the girl patched up and out of here while we can!”

His words fell on deaf ears as Elsa tended to Anna’s arm and the living objects looked on. A footstool ran about, barking excitedly like a dog wanting to be patted.

Elsa couldn’t help but laugh as she looked about at the strange but kind beings. “I didn’t think anything lived here,” she admitted. “Much less… talking candles and teapots.”

“I wouldn’t ‘ave believed it either,” the teapot chuckled. “But what on earth were you poor dears doing out in that storm?”

“We were looking for someone,” Elsa explained as she put new, clean bandages on Anna’s arm. “But we were attacked by wolves.”

“Oh, you poor things,” the teapot gasped. “What you need is a nice spot of tea!”

“No,” Cogsworth grumbled. “No tea. _No tea_!”

The clock was ignored yet again as Elsa finished bandaging Anna’s arm and accepted a cup from the teapot. She was about to take a sip when she heard the little cup giggling. “Hi there!” it greeted.

“Oh—!” Elsa laughed. “Hello.”

“Wanna see a trick?” The chipped cup took in a breath and held it, and the tea inside began to bubble.

“Now, Chip…” the teapot scolded.

Chip smiled sheeishly. “Sorry, Mama…”

Elsa smiled brightly at the objects before turning to look down at Anna. Her eyes were closed now as she lay resting. “Thank you all,” she whispered. “I don’t know what might have happened if I hadn’t found this castle.”

“It was our pleasure,” Lumière said with a kind grin. “We don’t get very many guests zese days.”

“No?” Elsa turned to him. “I thought I might find someone here… I was looking for an old friend of mine… a prince…”

Suddenly, a hush fell over the room, each of the objects trading quizzical glances at each other. “A prince…”Lumière breathed. “You don’t suppose…”

“That’s quite enough!” Cogsworth stepped in, giving each of the others a scolding glare.  “Alright, now we’ve let the young ladies rest enough. We need to send them on their way before the Master—"

Cogsworth’s words were cut short then as the door suddenly slammed open. A gust of air billowed through the room then, extinguishing the fire and throwing everything into shadows. With looks of terror on their faces—those who had faces, anyway—the living objects began to cower and shake.

Elsa began to shake a little, herself. What could be so terrible? Slowly, she turned to peer over the back of the couch towards the door. The sight she was met with made her heart stop.

The doorway was almost completely filled by the thing as it stood there, its hulking form almost a dark blot in the dimly lit room. But as it crouched down on all fours Elsa could make out details like claws and horns and a dark red cape draped over its hunched back. The creature was growling as it stalked into the room, the sound deeper and more frightening than any wolf.

Elsa sank to her knees beside the couch, as if hiding from the thing might make it go away. But no such luck. “There are strangers here,” she heard the creature say, its voice deep and snarling.

Lumière carefully stepped forward. “Master, allow me to explain. Ze young ladies were lost in ze woods and attacked by wolves and we thought zat--" A bellowing roar cut him short, the “Master’s” breath extinguishing the candlelight.

“M-Master,” Cogsworth said, very quietly, “I would just like to take this moment to say… I was against this from the start! It was all his fault, I tried to stop them but would they listen? No, no, no!” Another roar silenced the clock and sent him ducking under the rug.

Anna began to stir at the bellowing sounds and groggily opened her eyes. “What… what’s going on…?” The creature rounded the couch now, turning to glare down at the girls. Elsa could see a pair of sharp tusks protruding from its mouth, and enormous, pointed teeth set in its jaws. When she saw it, Anna’s eyes went wide with fear. “Oh no, not another wolf!”

The creature snorted, as if offended, but Elsa was quick to shield her sister from the thing’s wrath. “Please,” she breathed, “we mean no harm!”

“Who are you?” the creature demanded. “What are you doing here?”

“We got lost in the woods,” Elsa explained as calmly as she could. “Wolves attacked our carriage, we didn’t know where else to go.”

The creature looked Elsa up and down a moment, as if considering her words, before its gaze turned to Anna. The poor thing clung to Elsa now with her good arm, but her eyes were glued to the creature. “What are you staring at?!” it demanded.

“N-nothing!” Anna squeaked.

“So, you’ve come to stare at the Beast, have you?!”

Elsa stood then, moving to stand between Anna and the Beast. Her heart hammered against her chest as she glared up at the enormous thing, but she stood her ground. “You leave her alone,” she warned.

The Beast scoffed. “Or what?”

Elsa raised a hand, and in her palm a small bit of magic began to glow and swirl about. “Or else you’ll be the ugliest ice sculpture in history…”

The Beast’s eyes grew wide at the sight, but he stood his ground as well. “Magic…” the word fell from his mouth as though he hated the taste of it. “Magic isn’t welcome here!” He turned to the objects as they sat cowering in a corner. “You let a magic user into my castle?!”

“W-we had no idea,” Lumière stuttered.

“That’s right,” Elsa added, “they didn’t. All they did was show my sister and me kindness, so there’s no need to yell at them!”

“They are _my_ servants,” the Beast bellowed, “and I’ll yell at them if I want! Now who are you?!”

Elsa stood straight and held her head tall. She refused to show this brute any more fear. “I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle. And I will not allow some beast to shout at me or my sister anymore!”

A silence fell over the room then, so suddenly and so obviously that Elsa very nearly thought the Beast’s voice had left her deaf. She looked around the room at the Beast’s servants and saw them all staring with wide eyes and open mouths. When she turned to the Beast himself again, she could see him staring as well. “Lumière,” he snapped. “Light.”

Quickly, Lumière hopped closer and lit himself, casting a soft light over the pair as they stared each other down. For a moment, the Beast looked at Elsa with knitted brows, examining her from head to toe. The Queen began to fidget under his gaze. “Now what are _you_ staring at?”

The Beast seemed taken aback by her question and quickly turned away, a deep frown on his animalistic face. “Why are you here?”

Elsa frowned as well. “I came to find someone,” she explained. “Prince Adam of Gévaudan. We thought this might be his castle.”

Something in the Beast’s face when he heard the name Adam troubled Elsa. He almost cringed at it, baring his sharp teeth as if it pained him. _He knows something…_

“Get out,” the Beast snarled. “Both of you. Leave and never return.”

Elsa scoffed. “And go where? We barely survived the trip here, do you expect me to carry my sister back out into a pack of wolves?”

“M-Master…” Lumière chimed in, “perhaps we could at least afford to lend ze Queen our carriage? After all, it is dangerous in ze woods…”

The Beast rolled his eyes. “Fine. Just get them out of my castle and off of my mountain.”

_How generous…_ Elsa thought as the Beast turned away. “What about Adam?” she asked. “I came here looking for answers.”

The Beast paused, and without turning he muttered, “You won’t find them.” Without another word, he lumbered out of the room.

Elsa glared after the Beast before she turned her attention to Anna. The poor girl had sunk back into the couch cushions again, exhausted. “Don’t worry,” Elsa whispered as she brushed a few stray strands of hair from Anna’s face. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

“Yes,” Cogsworth was quick to say. “We’ll get you both back to the village and then everything will go back to normal! Please, please follow me!”

“But Cogsworth,” Lumière objected. “Did you not hear who she is?”

“I heard,” Cogsworth muttered under his breath, “and so did the Master. And if he says he wants them out we must show them out! Now, come along!”

The clock turned to leave the room and Elsa followed, carefully helping Anna to walk once more. Cogsworth led the sisters outside to the courtyard, where the rain had thankfully let up, and took them over to an old, rickety carriage resting upon broken wheels. “How is this supposed to take us anywhere?” Elsa asked.

“Oh, not to worry,” said Cogsworth. “The old boy’s livelier than he looks. Ahem. Come along, you, wake up! You’ve got passengers!”

At Cogsworth’s command, the carriage began to shudder and move, the broken wheels stretching out like long, spidery legs before it stood with a low creak. One door opened wide, showing a dark but dry interior big enough for two passengers.

“Well at least it’ll scare off the wolves…” Anna muttered.

“Right…” Elsa nodded her head and moved to help Anna up and into her seat. “Don’t worry, Anna… soon we’ll be away from this awful place.”

Anna nodded her head tiredly as she settled back against the musty seat cushions. “Away from the bear-wolf-thing… that sounds nice…” She paused then, turning to look Elsa in the eye. “But what about Adam…?”

Elsa frowned. “He’s not here, Anna…”

“But then where? Elsa, this castle has to be the one… that thing… he has to know. We can’t give up!”

Elsa was silent a moment, staring at her sister’s poor, tired face. The Beast _did_ know something… Elsa was sure of it…

At last, Elsa touched her sister’s cheek and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I won’t, Anna. I won’t give up.” She stepped back from the carriage door then and turned to Cogsworth. “This carriage will take Anna to the village safely?”

Cogsworth stared up at the Queen. “Ah—well, yes. Yes, it can take you both, in fact! It should be a nice enough ride, perhaps a bit bumpy but not so ba—Ah, wait, what are you doing?”

By now, Elsa had closed the carriage door and stepped away. “Thank you, Cogsworth. Please send the carriage on its way. I want to have a word with your master.”

\---

For ten years he had lived in peace. Not happiness or comfort, mind you, but in peace. No one ventured into his dark and dreary home to bother him, not with all the wolves who prowled the mountains. Had they been a part of the spell, he’d wondered? Either way, the Beast’s solitude had remained largely undisturbed over the years. At first, it was lonely… then it was frightening. Would he ever see another human being, he wondered? And then, at last, he had simply stopped wondering. He knew the isolation would last his whole life through, and he made himself accept that. In time, loneliness was all he knew.

And then _she_ showed up, out of the blue… Beast had more questions than he could keep straight in his head. Why? How? When did she become a queen? Where did she get _magic_?

None of that mattered, Beast told himself as he retreated to the study. She may have appeared out of thin air, but she would be gone just as quickly. It was better this way, he knew.

“But Master,” Lumière said as the Beast began pacing about on all fours, “I don’t understand! Why did you send her away?”

“She’s not welcome here,” the Beast snorted.

“But why not? Master, it’s _her_! Surely you must have considered ze possibility zat she could be ze one?”

“Of course I have! I’m not a fool…” But it just wasn’t possible. He couldn’t—wouldn’t get his hopes up. Not after all the years it took to finally put them to rest.

“Zen you should go after her,” Lumière insisted. “Invite her to stay, have a nice dinner with romantic candlelight--provided by myself—and we’ll be human again by midnight!”

“It’s not that simple,” Mrs. Potts warned. At least the teapot had some sense, Beast thought. “These things take time, Lumière.”

“Perhaps,” Lumière countered, “but she already knows him! Ze job is half done!”

“But she doesn’t _know_ she knows ‘im. And we can’t tell ‘er or the spell won’t break, you know that.”

“See?” Beast sat back on his haunches beside the fire, scowling at the flames. “It’s hopeless.”

“Oh, now I didn’t say that, luv…”

“But it’s true.” Beast sighed. “I’m not fooling myself. Besides, she has _magic_. I don’t trust it…”

“Well, with good reason…” Lumière admitted. “But we can’t give up so easily, Master.”

“It’s too late. She and her sister should be on their way to the village already. End of discussion.” When a knock came at the door Beast snarled, “What is it?”

Carefully, the door creaked open just the tiniest bit to allow Cogsworth to poke his head inside, a nervous smile on his face. “Ah, yes. Sorry to interrupt but—er, well you see, Master… the thing is… there’s someone who wishes to speak with you.”

Lumière and Mrs. Potts each exchanged surprised—and even hopeful—glances as the Beast sat staring at the clock, confused. “Who…?”

“Ah, well um…” Cogsworth chuckled weakly. “You see, well, I was prepared to follow your orders, Master, but the thing is I…”

A sigh came from outside before the door was pulled open fully, and in she walked, head held high as though she owned the place. Elsa.

Beast’s brows rose at the sight of her, but his look of surprise soon gave way to an annoyed scowl. “I thought I told you to get out.”

Elsa scowled right back. “And I told you I have questions. I’m not leaving here until I get answers.” As if to prove her point, the Queen folded her arms and stood frowning at the Beast, as if daring him to argue.

And oh how he wanted to take that dare. The Beast could feel the fur on the back of his neck stand on end as he grit his sharp teeth. “Now you listen here,” he began, but a gentle ‘tsk-tsk’ from Mrs. Potts caught his ear.

“Your temper,” the teapot whispered. “Watch your temper.”

As much as he despised being told what to do, Beast took a deep breath and allowed his fur to smooth down again before he spoke, his tone soft but forcibly so. “I told you… you won’t find anything here. So you might as well go back to your kingdom.”

“Oh, I intend to,” said Elsa, “but not until I find out what you’re hiding.”

“Who says I’m hiding anything…?”

“You do.” Elsa motioned to the Beast. “I can read it in your face, in your tone… you know something about Adam.”

The Beast snorted. “And what do you care what happened to him?”

“That’s my own business.” Elsa’s hands dropped to her sides, clenched into fists. “And besides, I can’t leave. Your ‘carriage’ is already gone.”

The Beast turned to Cogsworth for confirmation and the clock nervously sputtered. “Ah—Yes, I-I’m afraid it is, your grace. The Queen’s younger sister is on her way to the village even as we speak.”

“That’s right.” Elsa shot the Beast a smug smile. “And unless you intend to make me walk, I’m not going anywhere. Not that I believe you could make me even if you wanted to.”

Beast growled low in his chest, but another ‘tsk’ reminded him to breath. “And why is that…?”

Elsa said nothing in reply. Instead she simply raised her hand, and with a flick of her wrist an icy wind blew past Beast, snuffing the fire.

Beast growled out loud now. Oh how he hated magic… _and_ the cold. It just figured she had brought both of them with her. He clenched his enormous fists as he watched the smug Queen before him, contemplating braving a freeze just to toss her out.

“Ah, Master,” Lumière chimed in, “you know we do have plenty of spare rooms in ze castle. And ze carriage may not be back until late. Surely we can let Queen Elsa stay one night?” When the Beast rounded on him, the candlestick hopped back a bit. “A-after all, what could one night hurt? Right…?”

Everyone was against him, weren’t they? Elsa, fate, his own servants… Finally, Beast let out an annoyed grunt. “Fine. Take her to a room. Make sure she stays there for the night.”

“Without a meal?”

“Fine, give her some food, but keep an eye on her!”

“You really are a generous host, aren’t you…?” Elsa’s sarcasm was as impossible to miss as ever.

The Beast gave no answer save for a low growl before he turned to storm out of the room. Lumière was the only one to follow him. “You know, Master,” the candlestick whispered as he hopped along, “Zis could be your lucky day! Think of it! A lovely young woman in ze castle at last… if you could just get her to see past your, er, your current state…”

The Beast silenced Lumière with a warning snarl which halted the servant in his tracks, and with a satisfied snort continued alone to the West Wing and to his bed chambers.

See past his current state…? Ha. Unlikely. No one could ever see past such a hideous face… especially not a woman as beautiful as… No! No, he couldn’t start thinking that way. He might begin to _want_ her to be the one to finally break the spell…

The Beast breathed a heavy sigh as he lumbered into his torn and tattered room, knocking a broken chair out of his path as he approached a table standing near a balcony door. On the table sat a glass bell jar, and within floated a shining rose, casting its low light in the shadows around it. Several petals had already fallen from the glowing red blossom, and Beast stared at them with a heavy heart.

Only if he could learn to love, the Enchantress had told him, and be loved in return, would the spell be broken… But the enchantress must have had a cruel sense of humor. For who could ever learn to love a beast…?

With another sigh, Beast put his hands to his face as if to hide it’s ugliness from the beauty of the rose. It was truly hopeless, wasn’t it…?


	6. Conceal, Don't Feel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa spends her first night in the castle, and her relationship with the Beast is off to a rocky start.

Well, that hadn’t gone as bad as it could have… that’s what Elsa told herself, anyway. Even so, she released a nervous breath when the Beast finally lumbered out of the room.

“Ah—hm,” Cogsworth muttered, “I suppose the Master’s in a good mood tonight. Eheheh…”

Elsa frowned. “If that’s a good mood, I’d hate to see him irritated.”

“Wouldn’t we all…” Cogsworth mumbled under his breath. Quickly, the clock brightened up and turned to look at the Queen with a smile. “Ah, now, if you would follow me, your highness? I will show you to your room for the evening. Mrs. Potts, tell Cook to prepare a nice meal and have it sent up.”

The clock seemed as happy to give orders as his master, Elsa thought as she turned to follow Cogsworth from the room. Although he wasn’t nearly as barbaric. No wonder Cogsworth had been so hesitant to let her and Anna in…

“I’m sorry,” she said as they passed down a long hallway. “I’ve caused a lot of trouble for you and the servants tonight, haven’t I?”

“Hm?” Cogsworth paused a moment, nearly tripping over his own… feet? Could the little stands he walked on be called feet? “Oh—Oh, no don’t be silly! It’s our pleasure to serve! It’s just the Master, he _can_ be a bit… er, um, that is to say… sometimes he is…”

“A vicious brute?”

“Ah—I was going to say warm-blooded, actually…”

Not that he was disagreeing, Elsa noted… Instead, the clock decided to turn the conversation away from the Beast and began to prattle on to Elsa about the architecture of the castle, but by the time his lecture turned to the subject of flying buttresses Elsa had tuned him out. As they walked, Elsa looked about and more gargoyles, carved into the walls or sitting atop pedestals on either side, leering down at her with cold stone eyes. But none of the stone creatures were even half as frightening as the flesh and blood Beast, Elsa decided with a shudder. Where had such a monster come from…?

…Monster. Elsa had to stop herself at that thought, the world all-too familiar to her now… But this was different, wasn’t it? Elsa was different. Though her powers could be frightening, she herself was no monster. The Beast, on the other hand, acted every bit as monstrous as he looked.

…Somehow that didn’t make her feel better.

“And as I always say,” she heard Cogsworth chuckle, “if it’s not _baroque_ … don’t fix it. Ahaha.”

“Uh—right,” Elsa forced a small laugh, hoping not to let on that she hadn’t heard a word.

Cogsworth chuckled again, clearly pleased with himself, as they came at last to a tall door. “Ah, here we are, the finest guest room in the castle!”

“Oh—.” _Thank goodness._ Cogsworth was nice enough, but Elsa wasn’t sure how much longer she could pretend to listen to him ramble about neoclassical design. “Ah, thank you, Cogsworth.”

“Of course, your highness.” Cogsworth bowed his head. “Your dinner will be brought up shortly, and the servants will see to your every need until morning.”

“Thank you again,” said Elsa as she gently pushed the door open and slipped inside. It was a very nice room, she had to admit. Spacious, clean, with a large window to offer a view of the woods beyond the castle and a bed as big and plush as her own back home. But even a nice room was a prison when you were expected not to leave it, even for a night.

As soon as she shut the door behind her, Elsa stood and listened carefully, waiting for the sound of… well, footsteps, for lack of a better term. She soon enough heard Cogsworth leave and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, hello!” The voice made Elsa jump, and she turned quickly to find the wardrobe smiling at her.

_Of course…_ “Oh! Oh, hello…” Elsa smiled sheepishly as she willed her heart to slow down.

“Oh, gracious!” The wardrobe frowned. “I startled you, didn’t I? Oh, I’m so sorry!”

“No, no that’s alright.” Elsa offered the wardrobe a reassuring smile. “I’m just… still getting used to this place, I suppose.”

The wardrobe laughed warmly. “Oh, I know what you mean, honey. It took us all a lot of getting used to!” She paused, lips tightening as if she had let something slip. “Ah, well I mean not that there’s really anything to get used to! Ehehehe…”

More secrecy, Elsa noted with a raised brow. “Right… Um, I should introduce myself. I’m Queen—”

“Queen Elsa!” the wardrobe finished excitedly. “Oh, I know, dear, the whole castle has been abuzz with talk about you!”

“It has?” Elsa tilted her head.

“Well of course! It’s not every day we get a guest—much less a queen! Oh, I wonder if I have anything suited for royalty… Let me see what I’ve got in my drawers!” The wardrobe opened one of her doors and— _flutter, flutter_ \--moths promptly flew out. “Oh--! Oh, how embarrassing…”

“Oh…” Elsa shook her head gently. “Oh, thank you but I don’t need a dress. Actually…” She paused, looking about to make sure there were no other living beings in the room before leaning in close to the wardrobe. “Maybe you can help me? I’ve been looking for someone… Prince Adam? I’m certain your master knows something, but…”

Instantly, the wardrobe’s friendly face grew grim and she took a step back. “Ah—who? I’m sorry, sweetie, but I’ve never heard that name before.”

Elsa frowned at the wardrobe’s obvious lie. “Please, I know you’re scared of the Beast but I promise not to let him hurt you…”

“Hurt me?” the Wardrobe’s nervous expression melted away as quickly as it had appeared. “Oh, no, the Master would never hurt anybody!”

Elsa scoffed. “Of course he wouldn’t. Those fangs are just for show, right?”

“No, really!” The Wardrobe’s tone was firm. “I know he seems…well, he _is_ rather aggressive… He yells and broods and breaks things and yells some more… But the Master has never physically harmed a soul, I can tell you that.”

Elsa sighed, less than convinced. “Please… for whatever reason no one wants to talk about it… it’s important to me to find him. Isn’t there anything you can do?”

For a moment, the wardrobe was silent, biting her lip in thought. At last, she breathed out and shook her head. “I can’t,” she said, “I’m sorry. But… maybe if you just talk to the Master…?”

Elsa threw up her hands in frustration. “Talk to him? He doesn’t want to talk, he wants to roar and throw tantrums! I’m better off looking for myself!” With that, she turned to the door.

“Oh, wait,” said the wardrobe, “where are you going?”

“To look around,” Elsa replied. “I’m not staying locked up in here all night, no matter what that brute says.”

The wardrobe opened her mouth several times to protest, only to close it once more. As Elsa stepped briskly out the door, all she could say was, “I know the Master looks frightening… I know he seems awful… but maybe if you look closer?”

That made Elsa pause just as she was about to slam the door shut behind her. She stood there a moment, in thoughtful silence, before she turned to give the wardrobe a small smile and gently closed the door.

Rain drops pitter-pattered against the windows as Elsa quietly slipped down the hall, past the glaring gargoyles. She kept her eyes and ears open for any sign of life, just in case a servant was sitting in plain sight waiting to report to their master. But her trip continued unhindered for some time, and she quietly explored the dark, silent castle. She found little to satisfy her curiosity, however… just a lot of empty rooms and hallways and corridors. The only interesting thing the Queen saw during her entire trip was a collection of suits of armor, standing at attention in a long row. And even this only interested Elsa when she noticed the helmets all turn to look at her.

Of course, the silence and the solitude gave Elsa time to think. Whether she liked it or not. “Look closer?” What could she possibly find by looking closer at that horrible creature?

But hadn’t she thought that once before…?

At last, Elsa’s search led her down to an enormous, dark chamber, with smooth marble floors and towering columns encircling the room, holding up the highest ceiling she had ever seen. Above, she could almost make out paintings of angelic figures, almost comically out of place in the otherwise gargoyle-infested castle. High above the floor, a huge, ornate chandelier hung, dark and lifeless.

In spite of the shadows and the dust, Elsa knew this place to be a ballroom of some sort, sorely neglected for what must have been many, many years. Well of course, she reasoned, what use would a Beast have for a ballroom?

As Elsa stepped inside, she heard the clicking and clacking of her heels against the marble echoing all around her, and she looked up to stare at the impossibly high ceiling with its hidden cherubs looking back down at her. What _were_ they doing there, she thought? In a castle filled with talking furniture, covered over in grotesque statues and ruled by a harsh animalistic master, how could paintings of heavenly beings possibly exist?

A voice soon woke Elsa from her thoughts. “What are you doing here?” She didn’t have to turn to know the Beast stood at the door behind her.

“I was taking a look around,” Elsa explained in a casual tone. “I was just admiring the architecture.”

The Beast snorted, and she heard his paws padding on the floor as he approached. “I told you you would stay in the guest room tonight!”

Elsa turned on him with a glare. “And I told _you_ I would not be shouted at!” A stomp of her foot served to punctuate her words, and ice instantly spread out across the marble floor.

The Beast wisely backed up a few feet, but he frowned deeply at the queen. “Would you stop that?!”

Elsa smirked. “What? Does a little cold bother the big, bad beast?”

Without his servants there to keep his temper in check, the Beast’s fur bristled on the back of his neck and he stood to his full height, towering over Elsa. For a moment her grin faltered, and this time it was she who took a step back. But the Beast made no move towards her. “If you don’t get back to your room, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” Elsa demanded. “I’m not afraid of you! And if you don’t want me snooping around then you should just tell me what I want to know!”

“There’s nothing to tell!”

“You’re lying!”

“Why do you even care?!” Beast closed the gap between them in an instant and glared down at Elsa, but he never touched her. “What does this Prince Adam matter, anyway? No one cared about him!”

“I did!” It was Elsa who finally made a move, shoving the huge creature with all the strength she had. Even then, she had only managed to surprise him into stepping back. “I cared! I still care!”

Beast scoffed. “Cared enough to only wait ten years to go looking for him?”

“I had no choice!” Elsa shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “I was trapped, do you understand that?! For thirteen years I was a prisoner in my own home! Of my own powers!” She motioned at the icy floor beneath them. “I was a danger to everyone! A freak! You have no idea what I’ve had to live through, now _stop shouting at me!”_

The Beast did stop shouting. He stopped talking, altogether, and Elsa noticed him staring with a strange look on his face. Was it anger? No… no, he looked almost… sad? No, she had to be imagining that. “Well?” she demanded. “Are you just going to stand there?”

The Beast’s gaze fell suddenly, like a child who had just been scolded, and he crouched down on all fours like a sad puppy. The sudden change almost frightened Elsa more than the Beast’s rage had.

“Please…” Her voice was low now, and she looked upon the Beast with pleading eyes. “Please, I just want the truth... you know something, don’t you…?”

For several moments beast remained silent, his eyes fixed on the icy marble floor. “I can’t,” he breathed at last.

Elsa narrowed her eyes. “Can’t… or won’t?”

“Both…”

Well, at least that was an answer Elsa felt carried some sincerity. Unfortunately, it was not the answer she wanted. “Fine,” she hissed, and a cold breeze blew through the empty ballroom. “Then I suppose you win. I’ll be gone first thing in the morning.” With that she brushed past the silent Beast, storming—literally—out of the ballroom.

Elsa returned to her room to find a meal had already been delivered, waiting on a covered tray on the nightstand. She didn’t touch it, nor did she respond when the wardrobe welcomed her back. All Elsa did was climb onto the bed and bury her face in the pillows. It was hours before she finally fell asleep, her cheeks stained with frosty tears, as the rain outside turned to snow.

\---

The late-night snowstorm had been surprise enough for the villagers—after all, snow never fell this early in the season in Gévaudan—but a greater surprise came when, in the dead of night, someone stumbled across an injured young woman laying by the road.

The young woman was a stranger to the sleepy little village. To all, that is, except for two men. Gaston and LeFou were among the first to arrive at the scene, and they knew the redhead to be the sister of the young woman asking about the dead prince earlier that very day. What had she called herself? Joan?

“Whaddya suppose happened?” LeFou asked as the growing crowd looked upon the unconscious girl laying in the snow.

Gaston shrugged his shoulder. “Wolves, no doubt. Let’s get her inside.” Taking charge had always come naturally to Gaston, just as following his orders had come naturally to the villagers. When he spoke, they listened. This instance was certainly no exception, and the girl was quickly wrapped in blankets and carried to a nearby cottage.

The doctor came soon enough and examined the girl as she lay in bed, mumbling out the name Elsa over and over in her sleep. “That’s a nasty bite she got,” the doctor had said, “but nothing a few stitches can’t help. She just needs warmth and rest now.”

“She can stay here,” Gaston decided. No one argued. After all, the cottage had been empty for some time, anyway. The previous occupants, a cazy old inventor and his daughter, had moved away to Paris the month before. The old crackpot was hardly missed, but Gaston had to admit he was sad to see such a lovely young woman go.

Well, it seemed another young beauty had come to take her place.

“I feel kinda bad…” LeFou mumbled. “We’re the ones who sent her up the mountain…”

Gaston silenced his companion with a sharp elbow to his gut. “She was going to go, anyway,” he reasoned. “All we did was give directions. No one twisted her arm into going up there so close to sunset.” After all, everyone knew not to go out so close to dark in Gévaudan, as vicious as the wolves could be.

LeFou took a moment to catch his breath before he spoke again. “Should we have a search party? Her uncles and sister might still be out there.”

Gaston waved him off. “In the morning. No sense in us getting lost and eaten, too.” After all, Gaston thought, if Joan and her companions had been attacked by wolves, it was a miracle if any of them had gotten out alive. And as Joan had made it back to the village, then the quota for miracles that night had been filled.

“Come on, LeFou,” Gaston ordered as he turned to the door. “We’ll get a good night’s sleep and form a party in the morning.” And after a quick search, they would return to check on the sleeping beauty. Gaston led LeFou out the door, ignoring Joan as she cried out in her sleep for Elsa.

\---

The snow had continued on through the night and well into the early hours, and by morning the mountain had been covered in a glistening blanket of white, icy winds blowing the snow about so that one could hardly see anything outside the frosty castle windows.

And yet, true to her word, Elsa had risen bright and early, calmly asking the servants to have the carriage prepared. By the time Beast rose from his own troubled sleep, he found the Queen waiting in the foyer by the enormous front doors.

“You can’t actually let her go out in zat weather,” Lumière whispered as he stood with the Beast on the staircase, watching Elsa say her goodbyes to Mrs. Potts and little Chip.

“Why not?” Beast muttered. “For all we know, she caused it. What harm could the cold do?”

“Perhaps not ze cold,” Lumière continued, “but ze carriage had enough difficulty finding its way through zis storm once. She could get lost!”

“Well tell her that!” Beast snapped. “She doesn’t want to be here anymore than I do...” He thought he was going to say ‘any more than I want her here.’ What came out of his mouth had surprised him.

“Master…” Lumière looked up at the Beast with pleading eyes. “I know you got off on ze wrong foot with her… but zis could be your last chance, ze last time you ever see her! You would have given anything for zis once upon a time…”

“Things change…” Well… didn’t they? Yes, once upon a time Beast would have given anything to see the Arendellian girl, to talk to her just once… but that had been a long time ago. “Besides,” Beast sighed, “all she wants is answers I can’t give her.”

“Perhaps…” Lumière nodded his head. “But perhaps… perhaps she would accept a bit of kindness, nonetheless…?” The candlestick shrugged. “It couldn’t hurt to try.”

Kindness? From him? Beast felt sure Elsa would sooner walk through the blizzard than accept any kindness from him now. But… maybe it couldn’t hurt to try?

Not that he was getting his hopes up. No, no, he wasn’t doing that. But after the previous night… well, the Beast had a few nagging questions of his own.

At last, he descended the stairs and carefully crossed the foyer, scratching his cheek nervously.

“Do try to keep warm, luv,” he heard Mrs. Potts say as he drew closer. “It’s not a fit day out for man nor…” She trailed off, an embarrassed smile on her face. “Well, you know what I mean.”

“Thank you,” Elsa said gently, “but I’ll be alright. The cold doesn’t bother me.”

“Do you really have to go away?” Chip asked. “You just got here…”

“Oh, Chip…” Elsa knelt down to be closer to the teacup, a small smile on her face. “I’m sorry, but I think it’s better if I go. I won’t find what I’m looking for here…”

After a moment, the Beast carefully cleared his throat to catch Elsa’s attention. She turned with a slight start, frowning up at him. “For someone so big,” she muttered, “you’re awfully stealthy…”

Beast’s brows rose at this. “Um… thanks?”

Elsa rolled her eyes as she stood again, folding her hands as she turned to face the door. “If you came to make sure I leave, don’t worry. I said I would go and I’m going.”

Beast scratched his cheek again as he looked at her. “Um… in this weather…?”

“I didn’t cause it, if that’s what you think!” Somehow Elsa didn’t sound so sure. “But either way, I’ll manage. I was just telling Mrs. Potts I don’t mind the cold.”

“Right. Right…” Beast fell silent a moment, searching for the right words to say. ‘Nevermind you can stay for a bit?’ No… ‘Please stay?’ No, too needy. ‘Don’t go?’ Ugh, needier still. As Elsa moved toward the door Beast looked down at Mrs. Potts, silently pleading for help.

Dear, wise Mrs. Potts, ever the guardian angel ready to save the day, seemed to pick up on Beast’s plight right away and quickly spoke up. “Master, I ‘ate to send the poor dear away so soon… why don’t you let me make ‘er a nice warm drink before she goes? Perhaps some nice ‘ot chocolate?”

Elsa paused at that, turning back to the teapot. “Hot chocolate…?”

“Oh, yes!” Mrs. Potts smiled brightly. “The Master loves a good cup of ‘ot chocolate on a cold day like today. I was about to go prepare some for ‘im… but maybe ‘e won’t mind a bit of company before you go?”

Mrs. Potts turned to give the Beast a knowing smile and he slowly nodded his head. “Uh… alright.” He straightened his back, taking on an authoritative air. “Very well. A cup of hot chocolate wouldn’t hurt.”

Elsa glanced at the Beast, a brow raised, then down at Mrs, Potts, then back at the Beast again. “Alright…” she said at last. “One cup…”

“Wonderful!” Lumière was there in an instant, a wide grin on his face. “Allow me to get a nice, warm fire going while Mrs. Potts fetches your drinks!” Before either the Beast or the Queen could object, Mrs. Potts and Chip were headed off to the kitchen. Lumière turned and led his master and their guest back to the sitting room where, just as he said, he started a nice roaring fire.

Elsa wrung her hands as she stepped into the room, glancing cautiously at the Beast every now and then as she carefully sank down onto the couch. Beast, meanwhile, was content to sit on his haunches a few feet away.

“Ah, isn’t zis nice?” Lumière asked, as if blissfully unaware of the anxious tension filling the room. “Why don’t I leave you two to chat, eh? If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call!”

The Beast opened his mouth to order the candle not to leave, but Lumière was out of the room like a shot, closing the doors behind him. Beast let out a heavy sigh and closed his mouth again, turning to watch the fire. For what seemed like ages the room was silent, save for the gently crackling and hissing of the firewood.

“Your servants are very kind.” It was Elsa who broke the silence first, and Beast lifted his head to glance at her. She sat there, arms folded across her midsection, staring into the fire. “I’m grateful to them for all they did… all they tried to do.”

“Um…” The Beast cleared his throat awkwardly. “Yes. Yes, they’re very helpful.” Another silence followed, and Beast rubbed the back of his neck, searching for more words to say. At last, he found what he had been searching for. “You… you said something last night.”

Elsa shrugged her shoulders. “We said lots of things.”

“I know, but something has me curious…” The Beast turned to fully face her now, his claws tapping almost nervously against the floor. “You said… you said you were a prisoner in your own home… what did you mean?”

Elsa glanced over at him, her eyes narrowed and her brows knit together. “Why do you care…?”

Beast shrugged his shoulders. “I’m… I’m curious.”

For a moment, Elsa only stared, suspicion written plainly on her face. The Beast was beginning to think she would avoid his question out of spite—after all, he hadn’t answered _her_ questions, had he?—but at last she breathed a soft sigh. “My powers,” she said. “I did something when I was eight… something bad. It almost hurt someone I love. From that day on, I stayed alone, isolated, afraid of what I could do… what I was…”

Elsa paused, taking a breath and closing her eyes as she wrapped her arms tighter around herself. “My parents tried to help me. They really tried. But I think they were just as scared of me as I was of myself… scared to let anyone be around me…”

Beast watched her as she spoke, reading the pain in her face, the shame in her body language… he knew them all too well. “You thought you were a monster…”

Elsa looked up, her eyes wide, and for a moment her mouth hung open as though the words couldn’t come to her. “Yes,” she breathed at last. “I tried not to think that way but…” She trailed off, her gaze falling to the floor.

“What changed…?” Beast asked.

Elsa smiled. “My sister,” she answered. “It’s a long story, but… Anna, she saved me. In more ways than one. She helped me take control, helped me see I wasn’t a monster.”

Beast looked away. “You’re lucky, then…”

“I suppose so…” Elsa’s voice was soft, and somehow he knew she had looked his way even without turning his own gaze away from the fire. “Beast…? Why can’t you tell me… what happened to Adam…?”

A humorless laugh escaped him. “I can’t tell you that, either…” Damn that enchantress. She hadn’t just put a condition on her curse preventing him from letting the secret slip, it felt as if he were bound by unbreakable chains strangling him if he even thought about telling her the truth…

Elsa sighed. “I see…”

The Beast turned to her, his animalistic face unusually gentle. “I’m… Im sorry.” The servants would have gasped to hear those words escape his lips. “I really wish I could tell you… everything…” He truly did. It would be so much easier just to tell her the truth, to finally tell someone his whole, sad story. But would she sympathize with him if she knew the tale? Would she hate him even more?

Before Elsa could respond the door gently opened, and in came Mrs. Potts on her cart, two cups of steaming hot chocolate sitting ready for them both. “’Ere we are,” she sang, smiling at Elsa and the Beast. “Go ahead, luvs, drink up!”

Elsa smiled gratefully at the teapot as she took her cup—and then at the cup itself, which smiled back—and took in the warm, delicious scent. “Mm… I love chocolate…”

Beast looked at her with a half-smile as he took his own cup. “I know.”

Elsa raised a brow. “Hm?”

“Oh—” Beast paused, scratching his cheek. “I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate, right?”

Elsa, to the Beast’s surprise, actually smiled back at him. “True… nobody I can think of, anyway.” The Queen raised her cup to the Beast and he mirrored the gesture before they both began to drink.

Mrs. Potts beamed at them both. “There we are, isn’t this nice? Nothing like a good, warm drink on a cold day, settled in front of the fire… Oh, I really do ‘ate to see you go out in the cold, your ‘ighness…”

Beast stared down at his already half-empty cup a moment, his claws tapping gently against its side. “Maybe… maybe you don’t have to?” he said at last. “It’s difficult to travel down the mountain with so much snow covering the paths…”

Elsa looked at him, her eyes narrowed and her head tilted to the left. “Really… why the sudden change of heart, Beast…?”

He shrugged his broad shoulders, still staring at his cup. “Because… I do know what it’s like,” he said gently. “I know what it’s like to be a monster…”

Elsa turned to regard her own hot chocolate for a moment, her gaze distant, and after a moment or two of thoughtful sipping she at last spoke. “Your carriage did take Anna to the village, right? She’s there now, safe?”

Beast nodded his head. He had checked on her himself that very morning, and the younger girl had been cared for and given a place to rest. “She’s safe.”

Elsa sipped her drink again, another thoughtful silence coming over her. After she had emptied her cup, she gave the Beast a soft smile. “I don’t suppose we could have some more hot chocolate, could we…?”

The Beast smiled back and nodded to Mrs. Potts. The teacup beamed back before happily fetching more hot chocolate for the both of them.


	7. Hang in there, Joan!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna wakes to find herself in an unfamiliar place.

Her head hurt. Her muscles ached. Her fingers and toes stung. Her arm _burned_.

But that was a good sign, right? As Anna awoke to a plethora of aches and pains, she told herself the discomfort was a sign that she was still alive. After all, if she were dead she couldn’t feel pain, right? Well, unless she had gone _down there_ … “I’ll never steal chocolate from the kitchen again,” she promised groggily before finally opening one eye.

Anna found herself neither in the fiery pit nor in a shining paradise. Instead, she seemed to be lying in bed, in a small, unfamiliar room. Carefully, Anna pushed herself into a sitting position to look about, then down at her arm. It had been given fresh bandages at some point, and placed in a sling. But who had done that? The talking clock hadn’t…

Suddenly, it all came rushing back to Anna. The wolves, the creepy castle with its talking knickknacks and that terrible creature… “Elsa--!”

Anna threw the covers aside and leapt out of bed— _Oh boy that was a mistake…_ \--and very quickly fell back into it again as the blood rushed to her head. For a moment, the princess lay there as still as could be until the dizziness passed enough for her to, slowly, try again. At last, she made it to her feet without toppling over again and she began to explore her surroundings.

“This sure doesn’t look like a castle,” Anna mused to herself. But, of course it didn’t. She remembered now that that… that wolf-bear-thing had yelled at them and told them to leave, so the funny clock had led them to a weird, musty carriage. The last thing Anna remembered before passing out was Elsa kissing her forehead and closing the carriage door…

Elsa was still in that castle. With that awful gorilla-buffalo-man! Anna had to go back for her!

Quick as her aching legs could carry her, Anna rushed through the unfamiliar house looking for the exit. She found it soon enough and flung the door open wide, only to see two men standing in her way. Gaston and LeFou… wonderful…

“Hey, look who’s up!” LeFou said with a smile. “Sleep well?”

Anna ignored the shorter man, moving to brush past them. “I have to go,” she said. “I have to go find my sister!”

Gaston barred her way. “Whoa, whoa, settle down there, Joan…”

“Joan?” Anna blinked up at the man for a moment, until she finally remembered the lie she had fed him. He bought that? “Oh—Oh, right. Me Joan. I mean, of course, me Joan.”

Gaston and his companion exchanged glances. “Yes,” said Gaston, “you Joan.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Right. Me Joan, need to find my sister. So if you could just move?”

Gaston laughed. “And what? Let you trudge out into the snow with a wounded arm?”

Anna raised a brow at the hunter before looking past his shoulder, noticing for the first time the blanket of white which covered the ground. Had Elsa done that? “Well…” Anna sighed, putting her hand on her hip. “Well, fine. Get me a carriage or a horse or something. I have to go find my sister!”

“Are you nuts?” LeFou demanded. “You barely survived one trip up that mountain!”

“A trip _you_ sent me on!” Anna countered. “Now are you going to help me or--?”

“Settle down,” said Gaston, “settle down. We’ll help you out, but right now we should all go inside where it’s warm.”

Anna frowned at the pair a moment, her fists clenched—well, one clenched. The other hurt to clench, so she just kinda gently closed that hand—before she begrudgingly stepped back inside. Gaston and LeFou followed suit, stomping the snow from their shoes before making themselves at home, lounging in chairs at the small dining table.

“Is this your house?” Anna asked, taking the chair farthest from the pair.

Gaston chuckled, propping his feet up on the table. “No, but it’s been vacant for a while. So, I pulled some strings, arranged for you to stay here for the time being… I thought it would be a shame to make you stay in some tiny room over at the inn.”

“How generous…” And yet somehow this generosity made Anna nervous. “So… how did I get here?”

“You were found laying at the edge of the village,” LeFou explained. “You woulda froze to death if Gaston hadn’t saved you.”

The term ‘froze to death’ left Anna shivering. She had come too close to that fate once before… “I… well, thank you…”

“Think nothing of it!” Gaston shot her a proud grin. “I’m always glad to help out, after all. Ask anyone.”

“Right…” Anna’s brows knit together as she looked the man over. Had he really helped her just for the sake of it? “Um, but what about the g—I mean… my uncles? Has anyone seen them?”

Here Gaston’s smile faded. “We found one by the road, near the toppled carriage. Buried him this morning… The rest, there’s been no sign of them.”

Anna’s heart sank. Those poor men… “What about my sister?” Anna looked from Gaston to LeFou, and then back to Gaston. “The girl I was with yesterday. White hair, blue dress, really, really pretty? Has she come back from the mountain?”

“We’ve found no sign of her, either.”

Anna let out a shaky breath. “She must still be there, then…”

“Where?”

“The castle.” Anna turned to Gaston, her eyes locking with his. “Listen to me. That castle you told me about, it’s real. Like, really real. And it’s worse than haunted.”

For a moment, Gaston and LeFou exchanged silent, confused glances before leaning closer, looking intently at Anna. “Worse than haunted?” Gaston asked. “What could be worse than a haunted castle?”

Anna leaned closer as well, glancing about the room a moment before she answered in a hushed tone. “A castle with a beast. A huge, hideous beast, with fangs and horns—the works! We found the castle after escaping the wolves and inside…”

LeFou suddenly snickered. “A beast? You mean like a monster?”

Anna frowned at him. “I don’t like that word,” she said, the memory of her own sister being accused of being monstrous still fresh in her memory, “but yes. It was horrible, it yelled at us and I think it might have eaten us if Elsa hadn’t stood up to it.”

Now Gaston was smirking, as if the story _amused_ him. How could either of them have found this funny? “I see… so… this creature, it could talk? And your sister, she managed to somehow stop it from tearing you limb from limb…?”

“Yes…” Anna sat back, looking at the men as they grinned and snickered. “What is so funny? My sister is still up there, alone with that horrible thing! Well, maybe not completely alone, the talking clock and candlestick are there, but…”

LeFou laughed out loud at that, but Gaston silenced him with a quick elbow to his arm. “Now, now,” said Gaston, “when we found you you were in pretty bad shape… and a wolf attack could addle anyone. Do you think maybe you just dreamed all of this…?”

“No!” At least, Anna was _pretty_ sure she hadn’t… maybe she could have dreamed up the clock, but she definitely hadn’t imagined that awful creature and it’s anger. She knew she hadn’t imagined Elsa kissing her forehead and closing the carriage door. “I know it’s real,” Anna insisted, “and I know it’s up there. And so is my sister. I have to go find her!”

LeFou scoffed. “Good luck getting up there through all the snow.”

“I’ve seen worse blizzards,” Anna boasted with a small smirk of her own. “And I’ve never let them stop me. Not when I need to find my sister.”

“But your arm,” Gaston pointed out, “it will take time to heal. Nobody should go wandering up that mountain when they’re injured.”

Damn it, why did he have to have a point…? Anna hated him even more for that, but she couldn’t deny her arm was going to pose a problem… but she couldn’t just leave Elsa alone in that castle!

Maybe… “Wait…” Anna looked at Gaston, leaning in close once more. “You’re a hunter. Hunters are good trackers, right?”

Gaston’s brow rose. “Yes… in fact I’m the best tracker in the land, but…”

“Then you could find Elsa!” Anna stood excitedly, and her sudden burst of energy made both men stare in surprise. “Yeah, you could find her! A big, tough guy like you, you probably aren’t afraid of wolves, right? You could track down the castle, find Elsa and get her out of there!”

“Well, I could…” Gaston rubbed his chin. “I mean, theoretically, if there’s a castle up there with a beast, I could find it and kill the thing no problem…”

“Then would you?” Anna looked at him, her eyes pleading. “I mean, you don’t have to _kill_ it. I’m not a fan of killing. But just find my sister and bring her back…? I-I can pay you!” Quickly, Anna dug a hand into her pocket, relieved to find a few coins still remained inside, and she offered a few to Gaston. “It’s not much, but I can get more. Lots more!”

The sight of the gold seemed to catch his interest, as well as LeFou’s if the way he hopped up to look over Gaston’s shoulder was any indication. “Well…” Gaston rubbed his chin again, as if in deep thought, “I normally don’t take jobs like these, Joan. And never for so little. But…”

At last, Gaston smiled and accepted the coins from Anna’s outstretched hand before standing. “Joan, you’ve touched my heart. How could I refuse a request to help reunite two sisters?”

LeFou gaped at his companion in slack-jawed surprise. Anna couldn’t help but gape as well. “You will? I-I mean, of course you will!” She smiled, nearly clapping her hands before a jolt of pain reminded her of her injured arm. “Oh, thank you, thank you so much!”

“Of course!” Gaston gave the girl a low bow. “As I said, I’m always happy to help. Now, you should get some rest. Come on, LeFou, we have work to do! We’ll go up the mountain this very minute to begin the search!”

As Gaston turned to leave, LeFou stared in amazement. “But… but we… I… Awh, nuts!”

At last, LeFou rushed to join his friend and both men wandered back out into the snow. Anna breathed a sigh of relief to see them go, but she didn’t stop to rest. No, there was no time to rest just yet. She needed to get a letter written and sent to Arendelle right away. And after that…

Well… Anna wasn’t sure what she _could_ do after that… just sit and wait? No, no Anna wasn’t about to just sit and wait. She’d done that for most of her life already. Anna looked about the little cottage, soon finding a shelf full of books. Maybe one of them could tell her something about beasts…

\---

“Are you nuts??” As soon as they had moved a fair distance from the cottage, LeFou turned to look up at Gaston with a frown. “How could you take a job like that? Wandering around that mountain in this weather? We’ll be wolf bait for sure! And all to find some girl who’s probably dead and a monster out of Joan’s fever dreams? I don’t get it, Gaston, why are you doing so much for this girl?”

Gaston rolled his eyes, turning to glare down at his short companion. “Well, why not? You’ve seen her.”

Oh, great… “Because she’s pretty? Gaston, she’s not _that_ pretty!”

“Maybe not…” Gaston smirked. “But she does have one thing to her advantage…” Here he showed LeFou the handful of coins. “She’s got money, LeFou. Or at least, her sister did. Those dresses, that carriage, the guards… obviously they come from a wealthy family.”

“Guards?” LeFou tilted his head. “I thought those were her uncles?”

Gaston rolled his eyes and turned to continue on his way to the village. “I tell you, LeFou. It doesn’t hurt to be nice to a pretty young rich girl. Play the hero, selflessly offer your services… then when her sister is found dead, all I have to do is offer her a shoulder to cry on…”

LeFou smiled as he followed close behind. “I get it now…! Gaston, you’re a genius!”

“I know.” Gaston laughed. “Now come on, LeFou, let’s get to the pub. Our friend Joan just bought us a couple rounds of beer.”


	8. Enchantment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa and the Beast must each adjust to each other's company.

One day passed into two, and then two days passed on into three. Still Elsa remained at the castle. The mountain paths would be difficult to traverse, the servants all agreed, for although the snow and wind had finally given way to calm sunshine the mountain retained its heavy winter blanket. And so Elsa was content, for the time being, to heed their concerns and to remain in the home of the mysterious Beast. In truth, it was not the servants’ concern which kept her there… not entirely. Elsa, more than anyone, had no fear of ice and snow and could have cleared the paths with a flick of her wrist if she so chose. It was curiosity which kept her there now, in that strange, magical palace.

The Beast knew more than he let on, that much was certain. As did the servants. But clearly, something forced them all, even the master of the castle himself, into silence. That forced silence only made Elsa all the more eager to learn the secrets they kept. But as the days wore on, she seemed to find more questions than answers… On the second night, as she prepared to sleep, Elsa awoke to hear faint music, muffled by the stone walls. It was a terribly somber sound… dreary, mournful notes which elicited a shudder from the queen as she slipped silently from her bedroom to seek out the source of the music. She followed the sound towards the western side of the castle for a few minutes, but made it only as far as the foyer before the music ended, as abruptly as it had begun, leaving Elsa in chilling silence.

But while the castle held an air of mystery and fear in the night, with gargoyles cloaked in darkness and strange music in the silence, Elsa found the day brought life and light to the strange household. Servants, though inhuman, went about their business just as they would in any normal castle. Brooms swept, feather dusters cleared away cobwebs, even Sultan, the foot stool, seemed to forget his form as he chased a catlike throw pillow about the halls like he was a real dog.

Indeed, if Elsa closed her eyes and stood there in the main hall of the castle she could almost imagine she was at home, her own servants bustling about, tidying up the place, preparing meals, gossiping to one another… it was only when she opened her eyes again that she had to keep herself from laughing at the sight of a rag washing a window all on its own, chatting to the bucket of soapy water about an argument it had had with a serving tray that morning.

And then there was the head of this strange household… the Beast, in the passing days since her arrival, had shown very little of his own day to day activities. Elsa rarely saw the creature, save for evening meals when they dined together, or the occasional greetings exchanged when they passed each other in the halls in the morning. Though these exchanges proved far less antagonistic than their initial encounters, they felt no less awkward to the queen. The Beast had seemed distrustful of her at first, annoyed by her very presence, but now he seemed unsure, even nervous around Elsa. As if he were uncertain how to interact with anyone without snarling and scowling.

Elsa, for her part, was every bit as uncertain how to regard her host. He was still, well, a beast... It was only thanks to her scornful looks across the long dining table that he had begun to refrain from snapping and snarling at his poor servants. And the way he ate his food, lapping it up like a hungry dog, was less than charming. And yet, somehow, Elsa was beginning to see something more behind that animalistic façade, beyond his temper tantrums and impolite manner. She just couldn't quite decide what that something was…

So it was no surprise, after three days in his castle, that Elsa began to wonder what her host did with his days and began to seek him out. That afternoon she spotted him from an open window, wandering about the snowy courtyard below. “What could he be doing?” Elsa wondered to herself.

Perhaps one of the servants would have the answer… No, not just any of the servants. Cogsworth. The clock seemed very proud of his station, and very self-assured in his knowledge of the castle, its servants and the general goings-on of the household. Surely he had some insight into his master’s daily routine as well?

Elsa found the clock soon enough, giving direction to a group of very annoyed-looking mops. How mops could look annoyed, Elsa couldn’t quite say, but they did nonetheless. When Cogsworth at last dismissed the servants to mop up the floor of the hall, he turned to Elsa with a bright smile. “Ah, your majesty,” he greeted, “how wonderful to see you! Anything I can do for you?”

Elsa smiled back, leaning down so that her face could be closer to the tiny servant. “Well… I did have a question…”

“O-oh…?” Cogsworth chuckled nervously, and Elsa could see the second hand on his face nervously twitching with a soft _tick-tick-tick_.

Elsa raised a hand to calm him. “It’s an easy one,” she said gently. “At least, I think it is… what does the Beast do all day?”

“Oh…” Cogsworth visibly relaxed at that, wiping nonexistent sweat from his brow. “Oh, that’s an easy one indeed! Ahaha… Well, the Master is fond of his solitude, as you can imagine… so he spends much of his time in his chambers.”

“His chambers…” Elsa’s brows knit together. “Where are his chambers, anyway?”

Cogsworth shrugged his shoulders. “Why in the West Wing of co… Ah…” he paused, suddenly nervous again, “I… I mean, that h-hardly matters now, does it?”

Too late, Elsa thought. The denizens of the castle were fond of secrecy, but the clock seemed terrible at keeping them all. “The West Wing…” she muttered to herself. “That’s where that music was coming from…”

“Music??” Cogsworth gasped and laughed nervously. “Wh-what music? There’s no music here, your highness. Er, in any event, the Master doesn’t spend _all_ of his time in his chambers. No, no, he likes to take walks, too!”

“Oh—” Yes, that made sense. “I did just see him outside… So he just wanders around like that? Alone?”

“Often, yes,” Cogsworth replied. He seemed very relieved to change the subject. “As I said, the Master likes solitude. A walk about the grounds gives him time to think, you see.”

“That sounds nice…” Elsa would have liked that when she was younger… her own solitude might have been more bearable, could she have at least had room to move, fresh air to clear her head… but she had stayed confined to the castle most of her life… to her own room…

“Queen Elsa?” Cogsworth looked up at her, his head tilted to the side. “Queen Elsa, are you quite alright?”

Elsa shook herself from her thoughts. “Oh… Oh, yes, I’m fine. Thank you, Cogsworth.”

Cogsworth opened his mouth, as if to reply, when something down the hall seemed to catch his eye. “Ah—you there!” He pointed at one of the mops. “I distinctly said to make clockwise movements. That is clearly counter-clockwise! I should know!”

While the clock hopped off to chastise the poor mop, Elsa turned to go. The mention of the West Wing and Beast’s chambers had intrigued her… and the mysterious music seemed to have tied into the castle’s secrets, if Cogsworth’s reaction was any indication. Perhaps if Elsa could take a look now, while the Beast was out walking…

But as she passed a window, Elsa couldn’t help but glance out at the lonely figure in the courtyard. Though the sun was bright and the snow sparkled around him… the Beast seemed so _lonely…_ and loneliness was something the queen understood far too well…

\---

He still hated snow. The passing years had done little to improve his opinion of cold, winter weather, especially given the unhappy memories associated with it now. And just his luck, his guest held power over the very thing he hated.

And yet… Beast found he couldn’t hate the Queen like he hated her snow. He wanted to, at first… he tried, really he did. But that emotion seemed unreachable after the days she had spent in the castle. What did he feel, then? It wasn’t indifference, though that would have been his second choice after hatred. If he felt indifferent to the young woman he wouldn’t have to wonder about her, about her life and her thoughts and… God, what she thought about _him_ …

But he did wonder about that. He wondered more and more with each passing day. Indifference was out of the question. So… what, then? Beast found himself asking that question every day now as he wandered the castle grounds, staring down at the large tracks left in the snow the day before as he followed the same path each time.

But that day, as he walked and pondered to himself, Beast found himself looking at more than just his old footprints in the snow. This time, he spied the hem of a sparkling blue dress.

The Beast stopped suddenly and his gaze jumped up, his eyes meeting the crystal blue eyes of his guest. “Oh--!”

“Oh!” Elsa jumped slightly and a nervous laugh escaped her. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!”

The Beast opened his mouth to reply, but couldn’t decide if he should accept the apology or deny he had been startled at all. What kind of beast could be startled, after all? “Um… Uh, what are you doing out here?” he finally asked instead.

Elsa smiled, shrugging her shoulders. “Well I thought it was a nice day for a walk… Why stay shut up inside all day? And since you’re already out here I wondered if you would like some company?”

Company? No one kept him company. Not in so many years, anyway… “Um…” The Beast stared a moment, his brows raised as he examined the queen’s face. Her smile _seemed_ genuine enough… “Well—I mean, if you really want to. I don’t mind.”

“Alright.” Elsa nodded her head as she moved to walk at the Beast’s side. “Then shall we…?”

The Beast nodded slowly in reply and started to walk again, careful to keep in step with the young woman at his side. As they walked, he couldn’t help but glance over at the young queen. She walked with her back straight, her head held high and her hands folded in front of her. Every movement she made was regal, graceful, elegance befitting a lady of her status.

Compared to the way he walked… lumbering on his hind legs, his spine curved and his head low. His hands were wrung nervously as he walked beside her, since he had no idea what else to do with them. Mrs. Potts’ voice came to mind, reminding him to straighten up, so he tried to do just that.

The action didn’t seem to go unnoticed. “You don’t stand upright much, do you…?” Elsa asked gently.

Beast felt his face grow warm beneath his fur. “No… Not anymore… is that bad?”

Elsa shook her head quickly. “No. I mean… well, animals never do. Except… well, you’re not an animal, are you…?”

“No…” He hoped not, anyway…

“Well…” Elsa continued, “you walk just fine. At least, I think so.”

“Oh…” The Beast was thrown off by that. Did she mean it, or was she just being nice? “Um… thank you.”

Elsa smiled over at him. “You’re welcome. Um… are you cold?”

Beast shook his head. “A little, but not much…” A soft laugh escaped his throat, in spite of himself. “That’s the one good thing about fur…”

Elsa laughed gently as well. “Ah, well I’m glad.”

“Are you?” _What a stupid question._ “I mean… Well, do you feel the cold at all, or…?”

“Oh…” Elsa’s gaze fell a moment, as if she had to consider the answer. “Well, I do still feel it. I mean, I’ve always felt it. But It’s never bothered me. In fact, the cold feels nice to me…”

Beast nodded gently. “How about warmth?”

Elsa chuckled. “I feel that, too. And warmth also feels nice. Just… not too much warmth.”

“That makes sense.” Well, as much as a person with ice magic could make sense… Beast glanced over at the queen again, his curiosity rising once again. “How did you get your powers…?”

“Get them?” Elsa shook her head. “I didn’t, I’ve just always had them. For as long as I can remember, anyway.”

“Even as a kid?”

“Even as a kid.” Elsa nodded her head. “Of course, until last year I had to keep them a secret… My parents feared if people knew they would think me some kind of sorceress and try to burn me at the stake or something.”

Not a bad thing to do to sorceresses… But he was glad to know Elsa had avoided that fate… “You couldn’t even tell your friends?”

Elsa laughed again. “What friends? I didn’t really have any growing up. Just my sister Anna.”

“Oh…”

Elsa paused. “Well… Anna and Adam. The boy I was looking for…” Here, Elsa stopped walking. Beast stopped as well and turned to face her. “Of course, Adam and I didn’t really get along much. I mean, when we were very little we got along fine, but we got older and I suppose we each decided the other was icky… you know how children are.”

He did… sort of. He knew what he had been like as a child, anyway. “So… then what?”

“Then?” Elsa chuckled. “Oh, I don’t know… he started to call me names, pull my braid… the little brat even stole something once.” Elsa tried to look angry, but a smile played across her lips as she spoke. “But the last time we met we… Well that winter was very special to me.”

“Really…?” Beast caught the hopeful tone of his voice and quickly brushed those feelings aside. “I mean—Well, that sounds… nice, I guess.”

“Mmhmm…” Elsa’s eyes wandered from her companion, and she stared thoughtfully at the snow. “I was supposed to come visit him the next summer, but then… Well…”

“Then the bad thing happened?”

Elsa nodded silently.

“And you stayed locked up ever since? Afraid of your own powers?”

“I was.” Elsa shrugged her shoulders and looked up at the Beast once more, a sad little smile on her face. “My parents thought it was the safest thing to do. They didn’t want to lock me away forever, just until I got control.” She paused, hugging herself as if the cold had suddenly begun to bother her. But Beast knew it wasn’t the temperature that made her shudder. “I wish they had lived to see me finally figure it out…”

Beast’s gaze fell to his feet, and for a moment he couldn’t find words that fit. Instead, he scratched his cheek in silence.

Elsa, shaking away whatever thoughts weighed her down, turned to the Beast with a curious look. “So… what about your parents?”

“Hm?” Beast lifted his head at last, brows raised. “My parents?”

Elsa nodded. “What were they like? I mean… well, you did have parents, right?”

“Well, yes…” Beast shrugged his shoulders. “Everyone has parents.” Or every _thing_ … “But I never really knew my mother. She died when I was born. And my father… Well, he wasn’t really around much…”

Elsa frowned. “Beast, I’m so sorry…”

His broad shoulders lifted in a shrug. “It’s alright. It never bothered me, much… why be sad over someone you don’t know?”

“Still…” Elsa’s gaze wandered about a moment, as if her eyes were searching for some happier topic to discuss. “Look at us,” she said at last with a small laugh. “We’re out here on such a beautiful day, and here we are making each other sad! We should try having some fun instead!”

Beast glanced at her, his heavy brows knitting together. “Fun? How?”

Elsa waved an arm towards the snowy courtyard. “You know… playing in the snow!”

Beast huffed. “I don’t play in the snow.”

Elsa rolled her eyes playfully. “Well I do. Come on, I’ll show you!” Smiling brightly, Elsa skipped a few feet away from the Beast’s trail of paw prints, out toward a nice, untouched drift of snow which rose almost as high as her head. For a moment she regarded the pile of snow, looking at it from all angles. “Let’s see… what could I do…?” She glanced quickly at the castle and the stone gargoyles perched all over. “Ah, I know…!”

With an excited giggle hardly befitting a queen, Elsa began to wave her hands at the snow drift. The snow began to shift and move at her command, like clay beneath the fingers of an artist. Beast approached, watching the drift transform before his eyes. When at last she finished, Elsa looked upon her creation with pride in her eyes. “Well? What do you think?”

Beast regarded the snow sculpture a moment, and he couldn’t deny he was impressed. Elsa had created a gargoyle of her own, out of snow rather than stone. It had claws like the other gargoyles, and horns and wings, but unlike the frightening, snarling sculptures he was used to, this creature was quite unthreatening—noble, even! It was peacefully seated in a thoughtful pose, like something one might find in a museum.

“It’s amazing,” Beast had to admit.

Elsa beamed. “Thank you… Would you like to see more?”

The Beast nodded his head enthusiastically and Elsa happily set to work on more snowy gargoyles, each one friendlier than the last. She made one with long horns and a beaked face, but who smiled so kindly you would have thought him your best friend. Another she made with large ears and a big round belly, happily munching on a sandwich. Another, smaller gargoyle sat reading a book, while a dog-like creature laid at the feet of a fatherly old gargoyle with a beard.

The Beast smiled at the sculptures. “I can’t believe you can make these,” he breathed. “And so easily…” He had never made anything before in his life. And to think she could create such impressive works of art with just a flick of her wrists… “What else can you do?”

Elsa tapped her finger against her chin a moment. “Well, lots of things! I can make ice sculptures, too. Snowmen, breezes, ice walls… Dresses, oddly enough…?”

The Beast chuckled. “Dresses? Not exactly fun…”

Elsa smirked at him. “I would expect a man to say something like that.”

Beast considered correcting her for a moment… he was less ‘man’ than ‘beast’, after all. And yet… somehow the fact that she seemed to have forgotten that herself made him smile. “What else, then?”

Elsa paused to think again, and at last she held out a hand. A breeze flew around the queen a moment, blowing snowflakes from the ground at her feet to reform in a sphere resting in her palm. “I’m _really_ good at snowball fights,” Elsa declared proudly, before tossing the fresh snowball right at the Beast.

The snow struck him in the shoulder, scattering all over his cloak and fur. It made the Beast shudder and he quickly shook the snow away, turning to Elsa with a glare.

Her smile faded quickly, and she wrung her hands over her chest. “Oh… Oh, Beast I… I didn’t think—I mean I thought it might be fun to…”

He glared a moment longer, the fur bristling on the back of his neck… until finally he couldn’t hold back a smile any longer. Grinning mischievously at Elsa, Beast knelt down and began to scoop up as much snow as he could carry.

Elsa stared, her eyes wide, but a grin found its way to her lips as well. “Beast… Beast, don’t you _dare_ …”

Oh, he dared. Beast formed a snowball the size of a large pumpkin and lifted it over his head, ready to throw. As Elsa turned to run, letting out a noise which sounded simultaneously like a squeak of terror and a laugh, Beast gave his snowy weapon a mighty toss. The snowball landed right on Elsa’s back and caused her to fall in a heap of snow. Beast laughed until he noticed she didn’t move.

“Elsa…?” No reply. Oh, God, had he crushed her? He rushed over, quickly brushing the snow away. “Elsa? Are you…?”

She looked up, a wide smirk on her face, and made a few motions with her hands. Beast realized too late he had fallen into a trap, and a snowball twice as big as his own fell on them with a plop.

Elsa and the Beast both shook themselves free of the snow, their laughter echoing through the courtyard, and Beast helped her back up onto her feet. “See?” Elsa managed to say as her laughter died down. “Snow isn’t so bad… neither is a little magic!”

“Heh, I suppose…” Beast was trying to keep his chuckling from flaring up yet again. “I guess this _was_ fun…”

Elsa tilted her head at him. “Better than walking by yourself…?”

He paused a moment before slowly nodding. “Yeah… I suppose it is…” Beast looked at the queen a moment, her dress now covered in snow, her face red and her hair a mess, a decidedly un-queenly look to be sure. Somehow, he didn’t feel quite so out of place at her side anymore… “Maybe… maybe you can join me again tomorrow?”

She smiled up at him. “You mean see you more than just for a few moments a day?” She hesitated, as if she had to consider it. “I think… I would like that…”

Beast smiled back. “So would I…” The Beast felt a strange fluttering in his stomach as he realized… he truly would enjoy spending more time with Elsa.

So much for avoiding hope…


	9. Dreaming of Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Anna tries to survive life in a sleepy little village, Elsa passes a restless night and makes a discovery...

 

“Still no sign of her?” Anna felt her heart sinking in her chest as she walked down the street, Gaston sauntering at her side. “But it’s been weeks now!”

The hunter looked down at her with a frown. “I know… It’s terrible!” Gaston breathed a sigh which Anna thought sounded a bit too dramatic. “I even took some of my best hunting dogs up the mountain the last two times. But they couldn’t pick up a scent in all that snow.”

“Well we have to look harder!” Anna nodded her head as they walked together down the street. “I should come with you next time. Maybe we could fan out, cover more ground… Ooh, we could get the whole town to come! We’ll form a posse!”

“Whoa, whoa…” Gaston held up a hand. “Easy, Joan.  I don’t think the entire town can just wander up the mountain… and you’re still not in any condition to make the trip.”

Anna frowned and wiggled the fingers of her injured hand defiantly. “I’m feeling much better, though!”

“Even so… You’ve still got some healing to do.”

Anna hated to admit he was right… so she wasn’t going to. Instead, she pouted down at the cobbled street below her feet as they passed by the shops, headed back to the cottage. Gaston, as had become the custom each day, had been gracious enough to treat Anna to lunch at his favorite inn while updating her on his search for Elsa. Of course, there was never much of an update… it was always the same story. No sign of her, or the castle…

Anna had begun to question her choice in tracker after the first three days passed without so much as a track or a sighting, but when she gained the strength to begin venturing out of the cottage and into the sleepy village she found that everyone she asked had only the highest praise for the hunter. “No one tracks like Gaston, no one climbs like Gaston, no one braves harsh winter conditions like Gaston,” and so on and so forth. And so she found she had no choice but to rely on her host, at least until her letters could make it to Arendelle and help could arrive.

Well, she wasn’t completely reliant on Gaston, of course. While he searched up in the mountains, Anna busied herself with study, finding every book she could on magic and strange creatures. What books she couldn’t find in the cottage, she found in a little book shop in town.

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Anna said after a moment, “and what if the reason you can’t find this castle is because of an enchantment?”

Gaston glanced at her, his brow raised as if she had just asked him a difficult math question. “An enchantment?”

“Yeah!” Anna tapped her chin. “I mean, the castle’s obviously enchanted anyway. How else can teapots talk? _But_ , I was reading about it, and sometimes enchantments can make places really hard to find… maybe it’s the same with this castle!”

“Reading…” Gaston laughed gently. “Joan, you’re going to have to learn that life isn’t as simple as it is in a storybook. Besides, you might want to be careful talking about enchanted castles like you do…” He nodded at a few of the villagers as they passed, each of them trying to act like they hadn’t been staring.

Of course, Anna realized long ago that the townsfolk looked at her as some kind of oddity… and she knew why. The strange young girl who showed up out of the blue one day, only to survive a wolf attack and start raving about a beast in a castle. But she didn’t care. “I’m not crazy,” she muttered. “I know what I saw, Gaston. And I know my sister is in that castle.”

“Right, of course.” Gaston nodded his head. “But you know, it may be wise to prepare for the worst…”

Anna looked up at the hunter, her brows knit together. “What do you mean, ‘the worst…?’”

“Well…” Gaston scratched his chiseled chin a moment. “It _has_ been a long time, Joan… even if your sister is locked up with a monster—”

“A beast.”

“Right, a beast… well, beasts aren’t known for being gracious hosts, after all…”

Anna frowned, turning away from Gaston. “She’s not dead. I know she isn’t. And I won’t give up on her.”

“Oh, of course not!” Gaston was quick to nod his head. “I would never suggest such a thing. All I’m saying is…” here, Gaston put an arm around Anna’s shoulders. “Well, I want you to know, Joan, you have a friend here. A friend who is ready to offer you sympathy, comfort…”

_A lack of personal space…_ Honestly, Anna couldn’t help but shudder at the hunter’s embrace and was quick to slip out of it. She saw the cottage up ahead and breathed a silent prayer of thanks. “Well… thank you, Gaston,” she said with a forced smile, “but that won’t be necessary. I have plenty of friends back home, and once I have my sister we’ll go back to them… but thanks!”

Gaston’s smile faded. “Right… of course.” He paused a moment, rolling his shoulders and slicking back his already perfect hair, as if the action calmed him. “Well then. Same time tomorrow?”

“Uh… sure! Maybe.” Anna shrugged her shoulders, all the while inching back towards the cottage. “I mean maybe. I might not be hungry, you know? Still healing and all. Maybe take a rain check. Snow check? You know what I mean.” She laughed, offering Gaston a nervous wave goodbye. “So, yeah, unless you find my sister tomorrow… um… bye!”

She could see Gaston opening his mouth to speak, but she pretended not to notice as she turned to walk quickly away. It wasn’t until she had closed the door behind her that Anna breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Oh my gosh, he’s creepy…”

After a moment, Anna dared to peek out a window, careful to keep out of view, and another relieved sigh escaped her as she saw Gaston retreating back towards town. Gods, the longer she spent in Gévaudan with the self-involved hunter the more she missed her home… her room, the servants, Olaf and Sven… Kristoff…

And she missed her sister. She missed her sister more now than she ever had in her life. At least in the years before Elsa’s coronation she had only been a few rooms away, safe and sound… not in some creepy castle with a mon—a creature…

Exhausted, Anna retreated to her bed, wrapping a heavy quilt around herself as she stared out the window at a grey, cloudy sky. In time, a few snowflakes began to fall. Anna hoped that, maybe, they were a sign from Elsa.

\---

Why did she dream of roses?

Elsa had become quite accustomed to the castle as time passed by. She came to know many of the servants by name and each was kinder than the last, eager to serve the queen and make her stay a happy one. Her chamber had become familiar and inviting, while the castle began to lose any semblance of the darkness and menace it once held for her. And the Beast… he had surprised her in the past few weeks. Elsa often wondered how she had ever feared him… he was so gentle, deep down, so nervous and anxious and… she had to admit, he was sweet. Very sweet. But best of all, he seemed so much happier… In fact, the entire castle had begun to radiate happiness and life, to the point where Elsa almost hated to leave.

But then she would remember the reason she had come… she remembered poor Anna, and how worried she must have been… and then the Queen found herself filled with doubt, with fear and guilt. Perhaps that was why she had fallen into such a strange dream that night…

She was surrounded by roses. Beautiful ruby-red roses, blooming in hedges as far as the eye could see, even though white, sparkling snow blanketed everything. The flowers alone seemed to remain uncovered, as if their red hue radiated a warmth which melted any snowflake that fell upon the delicate petals. She wandered amongst the thriving, snowy garden in a blissful daze, in that dreamlike state where one has no idea at the time that anything is out of the ordinary. Even as the hedges grew taller and taller, forming a maze around her, Elsa continued to wander on and admire the luscious red blossoms.

And then, as she reached the center of the maze, Elsa spied a figure. She wore a green cloak which draped loosely over her frail little body, but her misshapen face was easily seen beneath the heavy hood, smiling as she tended the flowers around her.

Elsa recognized the ancient woman and smiled brightly. “You… you brought those beautiful flowers for my birthday.”

The old woman smiled kindly. “A gift,” she said. “A lovely present for a lovely princess… ah, but you’re a queen now, dearie. And even lovelier than before.”

Elsa chuckled. “You’re very kind. But your roses are far lovelier, ma’am.”

“Oh, none of this ‘ma’am’ business,” the crone laughed. “You needn’t be so formal with me, child. Why, I’ve known you since you were born.”

“You have…?” Elsa paused at this, and yet it didn’t seem so surprising. “Can you tell me why I have these powers?”

“You still wonder, child?”

“Sometimes…”

The older woman laughed, but the sound was soft and soothing, like a mother laughing at her child’s sweetness. “I know why, my dear. It is because you were born the child you were meant to be. And then you grew into the young woman you were meant to be. You are always who you are meant to be, when you are meant to be, there is no need to wonder why.”

“I see…” Elsa should have been disappointed by such a cryptic answer, yet in the land of dreams it sounded like a sensible and elegant enough solution to such a question. “And the Beast? Is he who he’s meant to be?” Elsa could not say why she had asked. Just that something about the old woman and her roses made her think of him.

The woman smiled again. “He is. But like the rest of us, who he is meant to be is always changing. And so is he.”

“Like how he was so rude and angry before?”

“Yes.”

“And now he’s become kind and patient.”

“And he will only continue to change, as he is meant to. But how he will change… that is yet to be seen.”

Elsa nodded her head again. “Am… Am I changing him, then…?”

“Oh, child…” the woman laughed again and her voice sounded like notes of music. “You are. But he is changing himself, too. And he is changing you, just as your sister changes you, as you change yourself.” The woman straightened her back, allowing the cloak to fall to the snow at her feet. Only now, as Elsa stared up at her, did she realize that the one eyed old woman had become a beautiful lady with flowing golden hair and eyes as endless as the sky. “Don’t give up, my Elsa. Look a little closer… you will see him soon.”

At last, Elsa felt the blissful ignorance of sleep slip away from her. How had this woman changed? Where were they? How did she know her? Before she could ask, the image of the otherworldly lady faded into the darkness behind her eyelids and Elsa awoke in her bed. She lay there a moment, still and silent, as though she hoped to fall asleep again and return to the dream for answers. But of course, she did not.

At last Elsa opened her eyes and sat up. It was still dark out, but in time her eyes adjusted enough to see the wardrobe sound asleep in her corner. Elsa breathed a soft sigh, reminding herself that it was only a dream, no matter how strange and vivid, and told herself she should simply go back to sleep.

But then, she heard the music again…

That strange, somber music… well, less somber, perhaps. It had sounded so mournful and gloomy that first night, but now it sounded… Well, still not very happy, but it seemed to try? The songs were lighter, certainly, but whoever played this music seemed to have less heart for it the happier they tried to play. Did she dare try again to locate the source of the music…?

Well, she was already awake… and that dream wasn’t going to let her rest any time soon. At last, Elsa made up her mind and silently slipped out of bed.

Quiet as a mouse, Elsa wandered away from her chambers and down the long, dark halls. The gargoyles, once fearful and menacing, now served to guide her way. She knew by now that the sneer of one demonic face was a distinct and unique marker, while the roaring muzzle of a bestial thing on all fours was another. She memorized each as she tiptoed down the empty corridors, marking her path down to the foyer.

She descended the staircase from the east wing down into the foyer and passed by the ballroom doors, but still the music continued on. She carried on, past the staircase and into unfamiliar chambers of the castle, right on into the mysterious west wing…

While most of the rooms and halls had always seemed well-tended by the servants, Elsa found the farther she followed the music into the castle the more run-down and untouched the rooms became. Dirt covered the floors, the walls were covered in deep, angry claw marks, while gargoyles and statues lay in crumbling pieces all about her. The sight of her splintered reflection in a broken mirror upon the wall made Elsa shudder, but still she followed the music.

And then, the music stopped. For a moment, Elsa felt her heart sink in disappointment as she contemplated turning around. Would she be able to find her way back, she wondered? And then she heard a sound. A door some distance ahead of her opened, and Elsa heard the familiar clacking of claws and padding of paws on the floors. Beast.

Elsa was unsure what caused her more fear, the thought of the Beast’s anger at finding her snooping again or the guilt she would feel at being caught. Either way, she was quick to duck behind a corner and hold her breath as the Beast’s enormous frame passed her by in the darkness. He wandered away, much to Elsa’s relief, and she turned towards the doors he hand just come through.

Elsa couldn’t help but wonder… what lay beyond? Beast’s room? Some sort of secret treasure trove? Was it simply another empty room, scarred by the claws of the castle’s master? Carefully, against her better judgement, Elsa inched over to the doors and took a deep breath, slowly pushing them open just enough to slip inside.

The room was enormous, devoid of any furniture save for a single, high-backed chair seated by a fireplace. Tall windows allowed the light of the moon bouncing off the snow outside to cast the room in a soft, blue light.

And there, at the far side of the room, Elsa finally found the source of the music. A pipe organ, with an enormous ivory keyboard and impossibly tall iron pipes which covered the entire back wall. But where was the player?

“Well, well…” a soft, melodic voice seemed to ring from the pipes themselves, and Elsa let out a tiny gasp. “It seems the renowned Queen Elsa has finally come to pay me a visit. Madame, you do me a great honor.”

“Who…?” Elsa looked at the organ a moment before it finally dawned on her, and she looked up into the shadows high up amidst the pipes. There, she saw a grinning metal face.

“We haven’t been properly introduced,” the organ said in a melodic voice. “Maestro Forte, at your service.”


	10. Song as Old as Rhyme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forte stirs up trouble, and Beast has an idea

So this was the famous Snow Queen… Forte was less than impressed.

Oh, she was pretty enough, to be sure… but for a queen, the girl seemed awfully timid. Her hair was a mess, quite unbefitting of anyone of noble birth, her dress was laughable and her skin was just so pale… was she really that surprised to see a talking pipe organ? Or was this her natural pallor, mistress of winter that she was?

Oh, yes, he knew about her powers. He knew all about the castle’s first and only guest in a decade. Rumors did tend to spread, after all… not that the Master hadn’t gone on and on about the girl himself. At first, he had complained of the situation, of her stubbornness and the trouble she had brought, and Maestro Forte, as always, was only too happy to offer his liege some comfort. A nice, soft, melancholic tune to soothe the Master’s troubled mind, to let him forget his woes… it had been Forte’s duty these ten years to play for the Beast whenever his mood called for it, and the Beast’s mood called for the composer’s particular brand of musical genius quite often.

But then… then a terrible thing happened. The Master seemed to become… _happy._ Ugh, that dreadful word made Forte wince. His Master had come to him less and less over the passing weeks, and when he did desire Forte to play, he insisted upon “cheerful” songs. What dreck. What emotional, sappy nonsense! Forte’s genius was wasted on such music!

And it was all _her_ fault…

This supposed queen, this ghost from the Master’s tortured past, this frosty strumpet was upsetting the delicate balance the castle had achieved! She was luring the Master into her web, filling him with a foolish hope… worse, she filled the _entire castle_ with hope. There were whispers amongst the servants that maybe, just maybe, this girl would be the one to break the spell and restore their humanity!

But humanity was vastly overrated in Forte’s eyes… After all, under the enchantment he not only enjoyed the appreciative audience of the Master but perhaps even immortality! And what musician didn’t dream of being so at one with their instrument? As the years passed, Forte had grown quite comfortable in his metal skin, content in the assurance that no girl could ever love a hideous monster like the Beast.

And yet here she was… staring up at him with those comically large eyes, like a doe staring at a mountain lion. Hadn’t she come to expect the strange and unnatural by now? “Dear me,” Forte chuckled, “I haven’t _frightened_ you, have I?”

At last Elsa seemed to find her voice, and she chuckled awkwardly. “Oh—No, I’m sorry. It’s just… I hadn’t expected to see someone here.”

Oh, hadn’t she? Why then, he wondered, was she snooping about? Perhaps if he called the Master and let him know his guest was wandering the West Wing… “I see… couldn’t sleep, then?”

Elsa shook her head. “No, not really… and then I heard the music and I wondered where it came from.”

Well. He had to smile at that. It was good to know that, even when forced to spew out such uninspired drivel, his music could still fill the old castle. “Not my best work, I’m afraid… but the Master insisted on that particular song.”

“I did notice it was happier this time…”

Forte’s smile vanished. “Yes, I know…”

Elsa stood for a moment, fidgeting like a child. Forte’s urge to call for the Master was growing by the second… but then she spoke at last. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Sir. You’ve heard of me?”

“Why, of course…” Forte chuckled. “Word travels fast in an enchanted castle. How could I not hear about the visiting queen, searching for the missing prince?”

Elsa’s brows rose at the mention of the prince. “Then you know about Prince Adam, too?”

Well now… perhaps he didn’t need the Master after all… “Well, of course…” Forte nodded his head. “We all know that… but of course, you already know we can’t divulge that little secret…”

Elsa’s face fell. “Of course… I guessed as much.”

Forte allowed himself a small smirk when she wasn’t looking. “Yes… Dreadfully sorry about that, your highness… I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you any more about that tragedy than the others…”

Elsa looked up, her eyes wider than before. “Tragedy?”

Oh yes, this would be all too easy… He may not be able to spoil the surprise, but that only made it easier to twist the truth. “Yes, of course… oh, the poor young prince… to meet such an unhappy fate…”

Elsa stepped forward, wringing her hands. “When? How?”

“Oh, I’ve… I’ve already said too much.” Forte feigned a regretful frown, his black eyes falling to the floor. “All I can tell you is that it happened one cold, bitter night…”

For a moment, the queen was silent, glancing down at her own hands. Did she feel some guilt, Forte wondered? Did her imagination dream up a terrible blizzard, and a young boy frozen to death in the very element she controlled? Oh, he hoped so…

“What about the Beast?” she asked at last. “Did he… did he have anything to do with it…?”

Forte glanced somewhere off to the side. “I can’t tell you he did, Madame… but I’m afraid I can’t tell you he _didn’t_ …”

Elsa frowned, shaking her head. “No, I… I can’t believe he would…”

“Well, he _is_ a beast…” Forte nodded gently. “Not to speak ill of the Master, but… well, a creature really can’t help its nature, can it? And I suppose, whatever he is, we cannot blame him, you know? Not for… outside forces…”

The tilt of her head might have made Forte laugh, but he was quite good at keeping up a grim façade. “What outside forces…?”

Forte gave away the slightest of smiles. “Well, I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now… after all, I understand you’re magically inclined, yourself…”

“Magic…” Good, she was catching on. “So this _does_ have to do with magic.”

_Obviously._ “Well, you didn’t hear it from me…”

Elsa looked up at him, hope in her eyes. “Can you at least tell me where this magic comes from? Give me a clue, a hint… anything!”

“Oh, I’ve already said too much,” Forte insisted with an apologetic frown. “I wish I could help, truly, but… well…” Here he paused, pretending to think.

Moments passed into minutes, and he reveled in the queen’s face as she stood nervously fidgeting, wringing her hands anxiously. “Well…?”

At last, he brought an end to her waiting. “The Master’s chambers… there is a reason they’re so private, you know… But I happen to know there is a certain… unusual item in his room. A most unique rose…”

“A rose…?”

“Oh, I’m not saying it’s of any importance, of course.” He didn’t need to. “But it _is_ interesting, isn’t it… that it appeared ten years ago, and has survived all this time…? Yes… most interesting…”

Elsa stood another moment in thoughtful silence. “I see… thank you…”

“Of course, your majesty…” Forte smiled and bowed his head. “I live to serve.”

She smiled up at him, though he was delighted to see a sadness in her eyes. “And… I don’t suppose you would do me a favor and not tell your master I was here…?”

Forte chuckled. “Gladly. It’ll be our little secret…”

Elsa smiled once more before turning towards the door. In a moment she was gone, leaving Forte alone was more. He was happy to have the solitude now… now that he could sit back and wait for his seed of doubt to blossom into a garden of disaster.

\---

The Beast was surprised not to see Elsa at breakfast that morning. He must have waited for nearly fifteen minutes, staring across at the empty seat at the opposite end of the table. “Where is she?” He asked at last.

“I’m not sure,” Mrs. Potts answered as she poured the Beast a fresh cup of tea. “She’s usually ‘ere by now… Oh I do ‘ope the poor dear isn’t feeling ill.”

Beast hoped the same. But what was he to do? Should he go to her room to check, or would that have seemed too impatient? Beast breathed a gruff, heavy sigh as he leaned back in his chair and fiddled absently with the hem of his newly tailored blue cape. He had hoped she might like the color on him…

Five more minutes passed, then five more, and the Beast rose from his chair to pace. He was sure to do so on two legs instead of four. “She couldn’t be sick, could she?” The cold didn’t affect her, after all… maybe it had gotten too warm in the castle, then? Bah, he was going to have to have a talk with the servants about that.

At long last, Cogsworth arrived. “Excuse me, Master?” the clock cleared his throat gently. “Er, I have news…”

Beast turned to the clock. Not long ago, he might have sneered at him in annoyance, impatiently demanding him to just spit it out already. Instead, he took a breath and asked, “yes, Cogsworth?”

Cogsworth seemed to visibly relax at that. Apparently the servants hadn’t quite gotten accustomed to the lack of yelling yet. “Ah, well you see, Sir, it’s Queen Elsa. It would seem she decided to sleep in a bit this morning…”

“Is she alright? She’s not sick, is she?”

“Well, I asked her that myself, Sire. And she said she simply didn’t sleep well last night. However, when I asked if she would still be coming to breakfast she said she wasn’t hungry…”

Beast wasn’t sure what to make of that. Something had to be wrong, even if she wasn’t sick… had he done something? “Where is she now?”

Cogsworth was happy to point his master in the right direction and led the Beast out to the courtyard. There, Beast found Elsa alone, skating across a smooth sheet of ice with a distant, thoughtful look on her face. The skies above were gray and heavy, while snow fell softly to the ground around her. If the look on her face hadn’t been enough to tell Beast she was unhappy, the weather would have been a dead giveaway.

Maybe he _had_ done something wrong… Ugh, and he thought things were going well! He even went to Forte for some happy, upbeat music the night before, that’s how well the Beast was feeling these days. But now, to see Elsa look so troubled…

The Beast thanked Cogsworth gently before he moved towards Elsa, but obviously he had forgotten about the ice. The first step he took, the Beast’s feet nearly slid right out from under him. He paused a moment, glaring down at the ground, before he slowly and carefully wobbled towards the queen.

Elsa must have heard him coming—not surprising, he kept gasping and growling each time he nearly lost his footing—and she turned to face him with a graceful twirl. “Beast?”

His concentration broken, the Beast finally tumbled backwards onto the ice with a pained grunt. He heard Elsa gasp, and by the time he lifted his head he saw her standing over him, her eyebrows drawn together and her eyes wide. “Are you alright?”

The Beast felt his face grow warm beneath his fur and he quickly stood, brushing some snow from his cape. “I slipped,” he explained sheepishly. “I fell on my—Er, I fell on the ice.”

A tiny chuckle escaped Elsa. “I can see that… I’m sorry, I just felt like skating for a bit…”

Beast nodded his head. “I noticed… is something wrong?”

“Oh—” Elsa shook her head gently. “Oh, no I’m alright. I’m sorry I didn’t join you for breakfast, I’ve just had a lot on my mind…”

Beast tilted his head. “Like what?”

For a moment, Elsa said nothing. Her gaze fell to the ice, and she seemed to consider her answer. At last, she formed a bench out of ice and took a seat upon it, offering the Beast a place next to her. “I’ve just been thinking,” she said as Beast sat down, “that I’ve been here for so long now… Much longer than I intended to be.”

The Beast frowned. “You aren’t… happy here?”

Elsa shook her head quickly. “Oh, no! Oh, I’ve been _very_ happy, Beast. Everyone has been so kind to me…” Here she paused, looking up at the Beast’s face. “ _You’ve_ been so kind to me… But I came here for a reason… to find answers and…”

Beast looked away, his cow-ears drooping. “I know. You haven’t found the answers you want…”

“I’m not sure I want them anymore…” Elsa caught herself, quickly adding, “A-and poor Anna… I’ve left her alone for so long now. I need to get back to her, get back to Arendelle. I have responsibilities and duties and I’ve neglected them for a wild goose chase…”

“I see…” A soft sigh escaped the Beast. “You want to leave…”

“I don’t _want_ to…” This answer surprised Beast, and he looked up again. Elsa smiled gently. “Beast, I didn’t expect to find an enchanted castle with talking candles and teapots… or a beast with such a good heart. But I am glad I did. I’m glad you and your servants welcomed me into your home. But I can’t stay… My sister and my kingdom need me…”

The Beast nodded slowly. He wanted to argue with all his heart, that a kingdom could obviously do just fine on its own if his own was any indication. And Anna… well, it might be hard to explain, but why not let her come to the castle, too? And then Elsa wouldn’t have to leave. She wouldn’t have to leave _him_.

But that was selfish, wasn’t it… and Elsa was far from selfish. And though he could be selfish enough for both of them… well, that wouldn’t be the “good-hearted” Beast she had been glad to know, would it? So of course, he smiled and said, “I understand…”

Was her smile any more genuine than his? Or was Beast just imagining the sadness in her eyes? “But maybe I can come back to visit you? If I’m welcome, that is…?”

“Of course!” Beast mentally kicked himself for sounding too eager. “I mean… Well, well I would like that…”

“So would I…” Still smiling, Elsa stood slowly and moved away from the icy bench. “I suppose I should start preparing for the trip soon, then…”

“Already?” Beast tried to stand, but when he felt his feet slip he sat right back down. “I mean… you can’t stay a few more days at least?” Ugh, he was sounding needy again…”

Elsa didn’t seem to mind, though. “I wish I could… but, well, my birthday is actually coming up in a few days.”

“Your birthday?” Oh right… it _was_ almost her birthday, wasn’t it?

“Mm-hmm.” Elsa nodded her head. “And I’ve already spent so many of them without Anna… I want to be with her, you know?”

“Oh…” Once more he had to fight the urge to be selfish. “Alright... I’ll have the carriage brought up as soon as you’re ready…” Beast tried to stand again, more carefully this time, but he still fell back onto the bench with a grunt. “Ugh…”

Elsa couldn’t help a small laugh. “Um, do you need help…?”

Beast frowned. “No. I’m fine.” He was far from it, actually, but that had little to do with the ice.

Elsa put her hands on her hips and looked at him a moment. At last, she breathed a gentle sigh. “Come on, you…”

Beast looked at her, his brows raised. “What?”

Elsa smirked at him. “I’m not leaving here until I at least teach you how to skate.”

“Skate?” Beast shook his head. Skating would just mean more falling, more humiliation. “I don’t think so…”

“Come on,” Elsa insisted, “it’ll be fun! And I won’t let you fall, I promise.”

And then, to his surprise, Elsa reached out and took his paws in her hands, holding on gently as she tried to pull him to his feet. He looked up at the queen, and he saw a bright, warm smile directed at him. “Trust me,” she whispered. And he realized… he did.

Smiling back nervously, Beast allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, and then guided out farther onto the ice. He shook as he felt himself close to toppling once or twice, but true to her word Elsa helped him stay standing. “Just balance,” she instructed. “Try not to look at your feet the whole time. Good… now, move one foot in front of the other, okay?”

Beast swallowed a lump in his throat as he followed her instructions, sliding one paw forward, then the other, and soon enough he was gliding across the ice. “Am I doing it right?” he asked.

Elsa beamed at him. “You’re doing great!” Beast’s chest swelled with pride at her praise, and she obviously noticed if her laughter was any sign. “Alright, Beast, don’t get _too_ cocky… Let’s try it one-handed now.”

One-handed? Well that certainly brought Beast back to earth. But as Elsa carefully let go with one hand, she kept a tight hold with the other and turned to skate side-by-side with the Beast, still smiling brightly. “That’s it, keep going…!”

He did keep going. And with every movement he felt it get easier and easier. “I think I’ve got it!” Beast laughed.

Elsa laughed right along with him, and when they finally came to a stop she threw her arms around his enormous frame. “I knew you could!” she cheered. “You were a natural!”

The Beast froze—pun not intended—when he felt Elsa’s embrace. And, after a moment, the queen seemed to realize what she had done as well, for she looked up at him with wide, sapphire eyes. Beast’s eyes met her own, and for a moment neither spoke. They just stood there, leaning on each other as they caught her breath. And the Beast thought to himself just how beautiful Elsa had become… and though he was so ugly compared to her, in his heart he felt better just being near her.

And she was about to leave him…

“Stay…”

Elsa blinked a moment when she heard the whisper escape him. “Stay…?”

Beast’s gaze darted away from hers then, and he felt sorry he had let that one, selfish word slip. “Uh… I mean… well, for a few days? Your birthday is in five days… stay for four? You’d be stuck on the road for your birthday with Anna, anyway, but let us… let us throw you a party first!” He smiled. The idea had been a means to sidestep his slipup, but now that he thought about it a party would be perfect! “You can still get to the village the next day and spend your birthday with Anna, but before then we can have a chocolate cake, and music and decorations and…”

Elsa smiled back, bouncing on her heels. “Could we have it in the ballroom? It’s so beautiful, I would love to see it one more time before I go!”

“Of course!” Beast nodded his head enthusiastically. “It can be a birthday party and a going-away party, so that we can all give you a proper sendoff.” And maybe… just maybe… he might tell her how he felt.

Elsa laughed excitedly. “Oh, Beast, this is a wonderful idea. I love it! Oh, I’m going to go inside and talk to Lumière about the decorations right now!” Elsa hugged him once more before she turned towards the castle. But then, she paused, and turned to the Beast with her brow raised curiously. “How… how did you know my birthday was in five days?”

The Beast blinked at her a moment, grasping quickly for an answer. “I… well you said five days, didn’t you?”

Elsa shook her head. “I said a few…”

“Oh… I must have made a lucky guess then!” He smiled as convincingly as he could.

“I see…” She watched him a moment longer before her smile returned. “Lucky indeed… Well, I’d better find Lumière, right?”

“Right.” Beast nodded his head. “And I’ll see to the other arrangements.” Elsa nodded back and, at last, she left Beast alone in the courtyard. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and scratched his cheek. “That was a close one…” Perhaps too close… had she bought the “lucky guess” excuse?

Well, it didn’t matter much now. Perhaps, if all went well, it wouldn’t matter at all in just a few days. But first, the Beast had a party to plan.


	11. My What a Guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part Three begins as Anna continues to search for answers, discovering a secret about Gaston which changes everything.

Part 3

~The Snow Queen and the Beast Prince~

 

Elsa’s birthday had almost arrived. Anna had had such high hopes this year… maybe for the first time in forever she and Elsa could have spent her sister’s birthday together, like they once had. She didn’t need the fancy parties or music or decorations or even cake. Anna just wanted to be with Elsa, to show her the love and friendship they had both missed out on for years.

Instead, it seemed like she would spend the day stuck in a tiny, unfamiliar town surrounded by strangers. While poor Elsa would spend it in a creepy castle with an even creepier master. Or worse…

“Beasts aren’t known for being gracious hosts…” Anna hadn’t been able to get Gaston’s words out of her head since the day he said them. And the more she read up on beastly creatures and curses, the less Anna found she could argue with them…

And yet she kept on reading, learning anything she could. She had begun to spend almost as much time in the town’s single, tiny bookshop as she did in her cottage, and certainly more time there than talking to Gaston if she could help it. “Do you have anything new?” She asked the shopkeeper that morning as she came inside.

“Not since yesterday,” the shopkeeper answered with a gentle, patient smile. He was busy organizing a shelf as the young woman entered, but he was sure to turn and offer her a welcoming nod just as he did every morning when she arrived.

Anna sighed gently but smiled in return as she took off her cloak and hung it by the door. “I didn’t think so… Do you still have that book on strange creatures, then?”

“Of course.” The shopkeeper took a moment to search the shelf before he found the book in question, bound in old, worn leather, and handed it to his customer. “You must have read this one twice already, Miss Joan.”

Anna nodded her head and offered a sheepish grin. The name Joan had spread quickly in the tiny village… not that she minded. What she was beginning to mind was how quickly word of her studies and her story of a beast in a castle had spread… “Maybe I missed something?” she reasoned. “This book has so many different kinds of creatures in it…”

She sat in a comfortable old chair by the window and set the book in her lap, flipping through the pages. “There’s mermaids and minotaurs… Genies and Giants… but I haven’t seen one thing about a gorilla-bear-thing…”

“With horns?” The shopkeeper pulled up a stool and had a seat nearby. “And… tusks. You said tusks, right?”

“Right…” Anna nodded at the older man. Oh, how thankful she was for the shopkeeper… he never once laughed at her when she described the thing she had seen. “There’s just nothing like it in any of the books I’ve read.”

“What about a chimera?” the shopkeeper offered. “If I’m not mistaken, they’re a mixture of several animals, too…”

Anna shook her head, flipping through a few more pages. “A goat, a lion and a snake… but nothing like this Beast. He was… he was like so many animals but like none of them, you know? And in a way he seemed…”

“Human?”

Anna hesitated to agree. He talked, certainly… she remembered the old cloak draped over the Beast’s huge shoulders, and animals definitely didn’t wear clothes. _I think…_ But to say the creature had anything in common with humans didn’t seem right to her.

Then again, people like Gaston were human, weren’t they? The Duke of Weselton… Hans… maybe being “human” didn’t mean being any less of a beast.

“Whatever this beast is,” Anna continued, “I haven’t been able to find anything like it in any of these books. What am I missing?” Unless… unless maybe she really had just imagined it. Maybe she was in worse shape than she thought, and the wolves had left her hallucinating… “Maybe I am as crazy as everyone says…”

The shopkeeper frowned. “Now what would make you say a thing like that?”

Anna shrugged her shoulders. “Well it _sounds_ crazy, right? A beast in an enchanted castle full of talking furniture? And if my sister really was alright, why would she still be up there? Why wouldn’t she have come back…?”

A tear found its way to Anna’s eye, and before she realized it had even fallen the shopkeeper had gently wiped it away. “Miss Joan, you mustn’t think that way…”

“Everyone else does…” Anna muttered.

“Well, let them.” The old shopkeeper gave Anna a gentle, knowing grin. “This everyone you’re talking about… they all told me this bookshop was useless. Folks around here, they see a young woman like you reading and they think it’s odd. Me, I think worshipping a man who likes to shoot geese in the middle of town is odd.”

That, at least, earned a chuckle from Anna. “Oh, I’m so glad someone else thinks so! I mean, come on!”

The shopkeeper joined Anna in a laugh, and then proceeded to help her look through the book for a third time.

At long last, Anna decided she had done enough study for the day. She stood and replaced the book on its shelf before putting on her cloak, thanking the older man for his time and his kind words.

“It’s my pleasure,” the shopkeeper replied as he walked her to the door. “Now you have a safe trip back, Miss Joan. Oh, and before it slips my mind…”

Anna paused at the door, turning to the shopkeeper. “Yes?”

The shopkeeper looked at her with a thoughtful look in his eye, as if he were searching his memories for something long hidden. “For some reason, no one in Gévaudan remembers any castle ever being around here… no one seems to care, either. But my father… before he died years ago, he told me about a magnificent, shining castle with the biggest library he had ever seen… I forgot all about it, but every now and then it’ll pop back into my head…”

Anna paused, considering the castle she and Elsa had found. It was far from shining, but… “So… you really don’t think I imagined it?”

The shopkeeper nodded slowly. “I think you and your sister stumbled across something this town has been ignoring for too long, Miss Joan… and I dearly hope you find the answers soon.”

Anna smiled. For the first time, she felt she had some proof that what she had seen wasn’t just a fevered dream. Thanking the man again, Anna left the bookshop and turned to return to the cottage.

She was deep in thought as she passed down the cobbled streets, pondering the shopkeeper’s words and her ongoing quest for answers… her thoughts had almost been diverted away from Elsa’s birthday, even! But then, as she passed quickly by the pub, she heard a voice inside. “Another round over here!” The sound made Anna stop in her tracks.

“Gaston?” But wasn’t he supposed to be out searching for the day? Curious, Anna peeked in through one of the frosted windows and, sure enough, she saw the hunter there in an oversized chair by the fire, a mug of beer in his hand and a trio of blondes by his side. “Tell us another story!” one of the girls begged. “What else have you killed, Gaston?”

The man grinned smugly. “Well, have I ever told you the story of the winged beast I shot in the kingdom of Avalor?”

Anna grit her teeth at the sight of him. He was supposed to be out searching for her sister, but here he was drinking and bragging to a trio of bimbettes? Anna fumed as she turned to the door, storming into the pub. At the sound of her stomping footsteps the men inside all turned to look at her, their drinks temporarily forgotten. Even Gaston managed to tear his attention away from the ladies at his side.

“Joan!” Gaston stood quickly, smiling like the cat who swallowed the canary as the redhead approached. “Well, fancy seeing you here! I was just getting a drink after I got back from the mountain.”

Anna scowled at him, her hands planted on her hips. “Let me guess? No sign of my sister? Again?”

“Well…”

“Save it.” Anna heaved an aggravated sigh. “Is this what you’ve been doing this whole time? Drinking all day and then coming to me with made-up stories of trained dogs and trudging through the snow?”

“Now, Joan…” Gaston freed himself from his trio of admirers—each of whom glared daggers at Anna—and stepped over with a careful smile. “I know this looks bad, but believe me I’ve done my best to look for your sister. I’ve been up that mountain every day for the past few weeks!”

“Wow,” a drunken patron said from his seat nearby. “Up the mountain every day and you still found time to come in for a few rounds? Only Gaston, right fellas?” The man raised a mug in salute to the hunter, only to have Gaston smack it out of his hand.

Anna laughed. “Wow. I guess nobody lies like Gaston, huh?” Oh, she should have known.  If a couple of lost, frightened young women could stumble across that castle by accident how could anyone fail to find it after weeks of searching? Too angry to even look at the hunter any longer, Anna turned and stormed out of the pub, ignoring Gaston’s pleas for her to return.

Anna stomped away from the town and back to the cottage, slamming the door shut behind her though the action made still-healing arm ache. At the moment, Anna didn’t care about pain. She had work to do.

All this time, she thought… all this time and nobody had even been looking. _Nobody!_ It was no wonder there had been no sign of Elsa! Well, it served Anna right for trusting that musclebound creep in the first place. No more. She was going to do what she should have done weeks ago, and go up there herself. She had made up her mind and turned to gather up all the supplies she could get her hands on when she heard a knock at the door. “Gaston…”

Anna all but snarled as she turned to the door and she stomped over to it, flinging it open as violently as she had slammed it shut moments before. Her fist was raised as she readied herself to punch the hunter right in his stupid, chiseled face.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa!” The man who stood outside—and who was certainly _not_ Gaston--raised his arms defensively. “Easy, easy! Whatever I did I swear I didn’t mean it.”

Anna’s angered frown melted instantly at the sight of her visitor, replaced by a wide smile. “Kristoff!” Anna laughed, launching herself at the familiar man and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “Oh my gosh, you’re here!” She pressed at least a dozen kisses to Kristoff’s cheek before she looked behind him, spotting a sled hitched to none other than his faithful reindeer. “And Sven!”

Sven stamped over excitedly, nuzzling Anna’s cheek. She giggled as “Sven” spoke to her. “’Anna! Look, it’s Anna!’”

Kristoff dropped the Sven voice and smiled. “Yes, Sven, I know it’s Anna.”

“You came,” Anna breathed, looking at them both. “I’m so glad to see you!”

“Of course we came,” said Kristoff. “We got the letters you sent and set sail right away. Poor Sven here got seasick, by the way.”

“Aww…” Anna scratched under the reindeer’s chin. “Poor Sven…”

“Don’t forget me!” Anna turned to the sled when she heard a voice from inside, and soon enough a little snowy figure climbed out. The snowman smiled, waving his twig hand.

“You brought Olaf?” Anna asked, though she was still smiling brightly.

Kristoff frowned. “Well I hadn’t planned on it…”

Olaf chuckled, waddling over to tug on Anna’s skirt like a child. “I got to go on a boat, Anna! A moving one, not one just sitting in the fjord!”

“He stowed away,” Kristoff explained.

Olaf looked up, confused. “Wait, I thought it was a sailboat, not a stowboat.”

Anna laughed again. “Well, whatever the reason,” she said, “I’m just glad to see you all. But we don’t have much time, we need to go find Elsa!”

“Again?” Olaf asked. “Why, did she run away again?”

“No, Olaf, it’s much worse. Come inside, I’ll explain everything!”

\---

“You really think this is a good idea, Gaston?” LeFou followed the hunter along as they left the pub and headed up to the cottage. He could still hear the sound of laughter even as they left the building behind. “Joan seemed awfully mad when she left…”

Gaston waved LeFou off. “You know women, they can be so moody. I just have to explain to Joan that this is all just a big misunderstanding and then everything will be fine… Although we might have to actually start going up the mountain now and then to keep up appearances.”

“Go up the mountain? In this weather?” LeFou shuddered. “Gaston, you’re going to an awful lot of trouble. I mean, you could find a prettier girl! Is money really that important?” Gaston said nothing, but glared back at his short companion with a raised brow. LeFou chuckled. “Right, of course. I dunno what I was thinking.”

Gaston rolled his eyes as the pair continued on in silence. When they came at last to the cottage, however, he was surprised to see a sled waiting outside, hitched to… a reindeer? Who had reindeer pull their sleds?

“Heh, look,” LeFou laughed, “it’s a donkey with antlers!”

The reindeer snorted at them, causing LeFou to hop back a step. Gaston ignored him and the animal and marched over to the door, knocking gently. “Joan?” he called. “It’s me. I was hoping we could talk about that little mixup at the pub…”

The door opened sooner than Gaston had anticipated. He was sure it would take at least a few more minutes of sweet-talking to get Joan’s attention. He had also failed to anticipate seeing a broad-shouldered man at the door, looking at him with a look of distaste. “What mixup was this, exactly…?” the man asked.

Joan soon came to the door, her hand resting on the man’s shoulder. “Oh, nothing, Kristoff,” she explained. “This is the man I was telling you about. The one who was supposed to find Elsa…?”

“Oh, right... You want me to…?” The man named Kristoff nodded towards Gaston and struck his fist against his palm.

Joan seemed to consider it, but shook her head. “No, that won’t be necessary. Gaston was just leaving, I’m sure.”

“Now, Joan…” Gaston turned his attention from Kristoff to the redhead, the most sincere smile he could muster plastered across his face. “Really, there’s no need to blow this out of proportion…”

Joan laughed. “Oh, I think I’ve blown it perfectly _in_ proportion.” She paused then, her gaze flicking briefly to the ground as if she had to consider her own words, but she soon enough looked back up at Gaston. “Clearly, you were incapable of doing the job I paid you to do. That’s alright, I mean, some of us just aren’t very good at things. You, apparently, aren’t as good a tracker as you claimed, so I’ll just have to do the job myself.”

Gaston’s smile faded quickly. “Now look here…”

“But don’t worry,” Joan continued, “you don’t have to give back the money. I have plenty back home. As soon as we go and find my sister, we’ll all be going home. And I’ll hopefully never have to see your overgrown chin and greasy hair again. Kristoff?” Joan turned away from the door. “We should get back to work if we’re going to go find Elsa.”

“Sure thing, _Joan._ ” Kristoff nodded to the redhead and then gave Gaston a satisfied smirk before closing the door right in the hunter’s face.

Gaston stood there a moment, his brows furrowed and his fists clenched. How dare she… it was bad enough she had humiliated him in front of half the community, but to insult him like this? Maybe LeFou was right. No money was worth _that_. With a snarl, Gaston turned and stomped away from the cottage.

LeFou rushed to catch up to his companion, though the taller man’s angry strides made the task difficult. “Wh-what now, Gaston?” he asked. “I guess there’s no use trying with her anymore, but you’re better off, right? Right?” When Gaston didn’t answer LeFou chuckled nervously. “I mean, it’s her loss. So whaddya say we go back to town and have another round, huh?”

“Where, at the pub?” Gaston demanded. “So everyone can laugh?”

“Well—I mean, they weren’t laughing _at_ you, Gaston, they were laughing _with_ you!”

Gaston didn’t buy that. Not for a moment. No, he wasn’t going back to the pub, not until he could hold his head high and watch everyone laugh at Joan instead. That shouldn’t be hard to accomplish, right? The whole town already thought the girl was a looney, after all…

And then, an idea came to Gaston that made him grin. “Come on, LeFou. Let’s take a little trip down to the asylum…”


	12. A Party Fit for a Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Beast and his servants give Elsa a party before she leaves the castle. Can Beast find the courage to show his true feelings before it's too late?

A lucky guess… Was that really all it was?

Elsa had pondered this question for days now. Just how had Beast guessed her birthday so accurately? Why did it even bother her so much? After all, she had plenty of other things to occupy her mind, hadn’t she? She thought of Anna often, eager to get back to her sister and let her know everything was alright, and Forte’s words continued to lurk in the deep, dark corners of her mind, no matter how she tried to ignore them.

Though it wasn’t all bad… Not at all! For the past few days the entire castle had been abuzz with preparations and planning, and the Queen had been no exception. She helped the kitchen staff to make a menu of her favorite foods, she helped to pick out the colors for the decorations and even helped the castle musicians pick out the perfect music for the evening. The only thing she had been excluded from, amidst all the other activities, had been in cleaning up and decorating the ballroom.

“We can’t go and spoil the surprise, can we?” Cogsworth had said with a knowing smile. “Under my direct supervision, your highness, that old ballroom will be sparkling! You’ll hardly recognize the place!”

Elsa could hardly contain her excitement and curiosity. The ballroom had already become her favorite room in the castle, and she already considered it to be beautiful. How much more wondrous would it be all cleaned up and bright and full of life, she wondered? But she stayed away nonetheless, happy to let Cogsworth keep the big reveal a surprise.

And the Beast… oh, he had been just as excited as Elsa. He tried to hide it, of course… She suspected the Beast didn’t want to appear too eager, but she could tell by his smile, and by the energy he had in overseeing the preparations. Elsa smiled at the change in him, how gently and cheerfully he directed the servants now, how happy they were to please their master and the pride they took in their work… she could hardly believe these same servants had cowered in fear of the Beast just weeks before. Or that he had ever been fearful to begin with.

Elsa smiled to herself thinking about him as she stood in her room the morning before the party. The wardrobe had been going on and on now about different dresses, which color would go best with Elsa’s hair and eyes, whether or not she should put her hair up or wear it down, but Elsa hardly heard a word.

“Your ‘ighness…?” Elsa felt a tapping at her foot which roused her from her thoughts and she glanced down to see Mrs. Potts looking up at her. “Are you alright, luv?” the teapot asked.

Elsa smiled. “Oh, yes! I’m sorry, I was just thinking…”

“Of course she was!” The wardrobe laughed as she procured another dress, holding it up for inspection. “She’s got to pick the right dress, after all!”

“Oh—right.” Elsa nodded her head. Better not to let on that she hadn’t been paying attention, after all. “But maybe yellow isn’t my color…?”

The wardrobe gasped. “Oh, of course! How silly of me, it’s too much of a summer color! You’re definitely more of a winter kind of gal.” She chuckled at her quip as she set the golden gown aside.

Mrs. Potts smiled. “Are you excited, dear?”

“Of course.” Elsa sat on the edge of her bed before lifting the teapot to sit beside her. “Oh, I don’t know how to thank you all. This will be the nicest birthday I’ve had since I was a little girl.”

“Oh, it’s our pleasure, luv.” Mrs. Potts nodded up at Elsa. “It’ll be the nicest party this old castle’s seen in years, too. And the Master’s just as excited, I think.”

“I’ve noticed.” Elsa chuckled, leaning back on her arms. It had been impossible to miss, after all. “I’m glad he had the idea in the first place.”

Of course, that did bring that conversation back to mind… that “lucky guess”… “Mrs. Potts…?”

“Yes, dear?”

“How long have you lived here… How long have you known the Beast?”

Mrs. Potts’ smile fell a bit at that, and Elsa feared for a moment she would meet with more evasion. “Oh—Well, I’ve known ‘im since ‘e was very young, Miss Elsa. You might say I played a role in raising ‘im.”

“I see…”

Mrs. Potts must have noticed the thoughtful tone in her voice. “Something troubling you, Elsa?”

Elsa shook her head gently. “No… I just wish…” She laughed softly, shrugging her shoulders. “I wish I could figure him out better, that’s all… I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface.”

Mrs. Potts gave a gentle nod in reply and softly nudged Elsa’s hand—Elsa guessed she would have patted it, had she possessed limbs of her own. “Maybe, luv… but maybe you’ll figure it out yet?”

A frown crept across Elsa’s face. “I don’t exactly have much time left to do it…”

“You never know…”

If only Elsa could share the teapot’s optimism. How was she to figure out the Beast’s secrets in one night, when she had spent hours and days and weeks searching for answers in vain? Elsa found herself wondering again just how the Beast had guessed her birthday, what Forte’s words had meant… what a rose had to do with it…

Elsa stood then and shook the thoughts away. If she wasn’t careful, she might convince herself it was worth it to stay… “I’m sorry,” she laughed, “here I am wasting time. I should be getting ready, right?”

Mrs. Potts gazed up at the queen a moment with gentle, worrisome eyes, but after a moment she offered a warm smile. “Right, luv. Do you ‘ave any idea what you want to wear?”

Elsa looked over at Mrs. Potts and the Wardrobe as each gazed back with expectant looks. She turned to the mirror by the wall and looked at her reflection a moment, considering her usual icy blue attire. At last, a smile tugged at on corner of her mouth. “I think I have an idea…”

\---

  
“I’m not sure I can do this…” Beast muttered as he climbed out of the tub, his fur dripping wet. The party was just around the corner now, but even as he prepared for the event he began to have second thoughts. He looked at himself in the mirror, his fur flat and hanging off his body. What was he doing? He had wanted to get cleaned up, to dress nicely and really look his best for Elsa. But he was a beast… beasts didn’t have a “best,” did they?”

“You don’t have time to be timid!” Lumière reminded him. “You must be bold! Daring!”

Bold? Daring? Beast shook himself to try and dry his fur, but ended up a poofy nightmare. Hardly bold or daring…

“Zere will be music,” Lumière continued. “Romantic candlelight—provided by myself—and when ze moment is right, you’ll profess your love!”

His love? Beast hadn’t dared even _think_ of that word, how was he supposed to _say_ it? “I—no, I can’t.”

“You care for ze girl, don’t you?”

“More than anything!” And he did… damn, he had tried so hard not to care. For all these years, Beast had tried to wipe her from his memory, and when she came back into his life he tried to avoid attachment… tried to avoid hope. He had failed spectacularly.

“Well,” Lumière chuckled, “you must tell her!”

But what good would that do? “She’s leaving in the morning,” Beast reminded Lumière as the coat rack began to trim his fur. For someone without fingers, he was good with a comb and a pair of scissors.

“All ze more reason to take action, Master! If you can break ze spell tonight she’ll be yours!”

If only… but Beast had to wonder, would she stay if she knew the truth? If the spell were broken, would Elsa really be his? Would that be the only way to keep her? To show her he was someone else…?

Well, she wouldn’t stay the way he was now, that was for sure… Beast glanced at his reflection as the coatrack finished his work and nearly cringed. “Voila!” Lumière smiled. “You look so… so…”

“Stupid.” Incredibly stupid… Bows and curls did nothing to lessen the Beast’s already ugly features… actually, it made him _laughably_ ugly instead of just ugly.

Lumière laughed nervously. “Not quite ze word I was looking for, but… perhaps a little more off the top?”

The coatrack went back to work, trimming and styling and thankfully using far less bows this time. With that out of the way, the Beast began to put on his newly tailored outfit made especially for the occasion. Before long Cogsworth could be heard at the door, tittering excitedly. “Ahem-ahem-ahem. Your lady… awaits.”

Was it time already? The Beast felt his heart pounding in his chest as he took one last look in the mirror. His fur looked better than before, at least… freshly cleaned and trimmed, pulled back into a fashionable ponytail at the back of his head in a style befitting Gévaudan nobility. The new jacket and shirt he wore had been a labor of love by the castle tailors who had worked day and night to produce an outfit which would fit his bulky frame perfectly. In spite of his fur itching beneath the cloth, he managed to stand straight and tall. He could have looked worse, honestly… but did he look good enough? Probably not…

Still, there could be no more stalling. With a heavy sigh, the Beast straightened his jacket and went to the staircase in the foyer. He paused there, at the top of the stairs, and waited for Elsa to enter from the opposite side. Cogsworth had insisted on this carefully choreographed entrance for them both… and as he saw the Queen walk through the door at the top of the opposite staircase, Beast had to admit it had been worth it.

She wore a pale silver gown the color of a glacier, trimmed in pale blue and sparkling with icy snowflakes embroidered into the skirt and bodice. Her hair, free of its usual braid, fell down her back and over her bare shoulders, framing her face in platinum blonde locks as she gazed over at him with the brightest of smiles.

For a moment the Beast could only stare until Lumière gently urged him down the steps. Elsa descended as well and met him in the middle, looking the Beast up and down with a gentle smile.

She was even more beautiful up close, Beast realized, and he couldn’t help a wide smile. But what now? Should he speak? Should he compliment her? How much would be too much?

Elsa, thankfully, took the burden of the first words on herself. “You look wonderful.”

The Beast nearly laughed. “Ah—no, not really...” He scratched his cheek nervously. “I mean I tried, but…”

“No, really,” Elsa insisted. “Beast, you do.”

The sincerity in her voice surprised him. “Really…? Well… thank you.”

Her smile brightened. “Of course.”

“A-and you look wonderful, too.” Beast smiled back, glancing down at her glittering gown once more. “Did you…?”

“Make it?” Elsa laughed gently. “I did… I had a little help designing it, though.”

Beast’s gaze rested on her a moment before her eyes caught his. For an instant they both stood there, not a word between them, until he finally offered her his arm. “May I escort you to your party, Queen Elsa?” Well, maybe he _could_ be a gentleman.

Elsa beamed at him and held his arm. “I would be delighted, my good sir.”

Together, the pair headed away to the dining room where a lovely feast was prepared with all of Elsa’s favorite dishes, with a lovely cake baked for their dessert. Chocolate, of course. “Our favorite,” Elsa mused playfully as the Beast helped her to her seat, taking the chair across from hers.

The meal was perfect. From the food itself to the pleasant atmosphere, complete with violin music and soft candlelight—as Lumière had promised. The Beast had even managed to dine like a proper gentleman that night, rather than devouring his food like an animal as he had before.

At long last, the meal had been completed and Elsa stood excitedly. “So… can I see it yet?”

Beast smiled as he stood, offering Elsa his arm again. The Queen had made no secret of her excitement to see the ballroom. And Beast had to admit he was eager to see her reaction. “Are you sure you want to?” he asked teasingly. “It’s getting late, maybe we could skip it and just go to bed…?”

Elsa playfully tugged at his arm. “Oh, no. This party is far from over, Beast. Everyone worked so hard, don’t let it go to waste!”

The Beast laughed and allowed Elsa to pull him along towards the wide ballroom doors. “Alright, alright…” Once they reached the doors, Beast moved to open them, pausing to tell Elsa, “you have to close your eyes first.”

She gave him a look then and he almost laughed again. She looked so eager, like a child waiting to open a Christmas present. But at last, Elsa smiled and shut her eyes. Beast smiled to himself and opened the doors wide, guiding Elsa inside.

“Can I open them yet?” she asked, her voice echoing through the enormous room.

“Not yet,” Beast replied. He led Elsa farther inside until she stood in the very center of the ballroom, then took a quick glance around. The servants had already gathered, waiting just as eagerly to see Elsa’s reaction as he did.

“ _Now_ can I open them?” Elsa asked again.

Beast smiled brightly as he took a few steps back. “Alright… now.”

At last, Elsa opened her eyes and immediately her breath was taken away as she glanced about at the ballroom. Where she had once found a dark, dusty old chamber there was now light and warmth and light. The room looked almost golden in the glow of the crystal chandelier above, and the marble floors had been polished until she could see her reflection looking up at her. High above, the innocent and carefree little angels watched with wide, gleeful eyes, unobscured now by shadows and cobwebs. Across the room, she saw the servants watching with warm smiles. Lumière, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts…

And there, standing before her, was the Beast. The last time they stood together in this room, he thought to himself, they had been almost enemies. And now…

Now, she was smiling at him. With the brightest, loveliest smile he had ever seen in his life. Did he dare let himself believe that smile was for the likes of him?

At last a small laugh bubbled from Elsa’s throat and she stepped closer to him, reaching out to hold his hands in her own. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

The Beast gave her hands the gentlest of squeezes as he gazed down at the Queen, their eyes locked as he whispered back, “not as beautiful as you…”

Elsa’s fair face reddened at the compliment, but her gaze never faltered. “Thank you, Beast… For everything…”

He shook his head. “I haven’t given you everything yet…” He nodded over to Cogsworth and the clock gave a signal of his own. In an instant, the piano began to play of its own accord, and a gentle tune filled the ballroom.

Elsa’s face grew redder. “I-I don’t understand…”

Beast chuckled and bowed his head to her. “A party isn’t complete without a dance…”

“A dance?” Now Elsa shook her head, a nervous grin replacing her previous smile. “Oh—Oh, no… I mean… I don’t really dance, Beast…”

The Beast shrugged his shoulders. “I can teach you.”

At that, Elsa paused, glancing up at him with a raised brow. “You… can?”

He nodded his head. “If you can teach me how to skate, I can teach you how to dance.”

For a moment, Elsa was silent, staring up into the Beast’s face. He began to feel nervous under her quiet gaze. There was something in her eyes that worried him then, something unsure… had he gone too far asking her to dance?

And then, at long last, the look melted away into a soft smile. Elsa stepped closer, slipping one hand into the Beast’s while the other rested upon his shoulder. “Don’t blame me if you end up with sore toes,” she joked.

The Beast breathed a soft sigh and nodded again. Carefully, he slipped his free hand around Elsa’s waist and the pair began to move in time to the music.

Of course, it didn’t go very smoothly at first. Beast had laughed off the comment about sore toes but Elsa’s shoes proved to be a tad more painful than he expected. “I’m sorry!” Elsa would say with a wince each time. But each time Beast would just smile and shake it off.

Elsa smiled thankfully. “You’re being very patient with me…”

“You were patient with me…”

“True…” She laughed softly as her feet landed on his toes less and less with each step. “I hope I’m as fast a learner as you were with skating…”

“You are.” Beast smiled at her, nodding down at their feet. “You’re sure you never danced?”

Elsa shook her head. “Only once… a long time ago…” She paused again, and for a moment she seemed engrossed in the motions of her own feet. “How did you learn to dance…?” she asked at last.

The Beast looked at her, his brow raised. “Oh… it was just something I was expected to know once…”

“I see…” Elsa said nothing more, but she lifted her head again to look the Beast in the eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips. For a time, the pair danced together in comfortable silence.

The silence gave Beast time to think. About Elsa, about the moment they now shared… he would have given anything to make this moment last forever, to keep looking in those icy blue eyes for the rest of his life… How was he supposed to tell her that?

_I love you. I think I always loved you. Except for the times when I didn’t, but even then…?_ Ah, what if he just sounded like a fool… what if she just laughed in his face? What if…?

“I want to come back…”

Beast snapped out of his thoughts and blinked at her a moment, unsure of what he had heard. “Wh-what…?”

Elsa smiled up at him. “I want to come back,” she repeated. “After I find my sister… after I’ve returned home and taken care of my responsibilities… I want to see you again.” Her cheeks grew red again and she glanced down at their feet. “I wish I could even take you with me, to be honest…”

The Beast paused as she spoke, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Did she mean that? Could it possibly be that she truly wanted to remain with a beast like him?

Yes… yes, for the first time in ten years, the Beast dared to hope. He dared to believe that maybe his happily ever after was coming at long last. “There might be a way…” he said at last.

Elsa looked up, her eyes wide. “Really? How…?”

The Beast smiled down and took Elsa’s hands in his own. “Come with me. I have one more present to give you…”


	13. Who Could Love a Frozen Heart?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Beast's gift leads Elsa to a realization. But what will it mean for them both?

 The Beast led Elsa into the West Wing of the castle, guiding her carefully through the dark and the debris littered about the halls. She felt strangely nervous there, in a place that had previously been forbidden to her… it didn’t help her to remember she had already seen the lonely, neglected chambers once before. Would he be angry if he knew, she wondered? Did he already know?

But in spite of her nerves, Elsa followed the Beast without objection. Surely there was nothing to fear, right? Beast, himself, seemed fairly excited to lead Elsa to this present he mentioned. “Just a little further,” he said as he led Elsa past an aged, crumbling stone face.

But further to where? Elsa recognized little of what she saw now, and realized they had come to chambers she had failed to discover in her previous, secret exploration of the west wing. At last, they arrived at a large set of doors, marred by deep scratches and claw marks.  Beast had used these doors often, it seemed, and not always gently.

The Beast opened the doors and led Elsa inside, into a large chamber, unlike any in the castle. Broken furniture lay scattered all about, tossed to and fro as though a tornado had torn through the room. The walls were as marred by claw marks as the doors outside, though Elsa couldn’t help but notice the lower marks seemed made by smaller claws. She almost imagined a small, childlike Beast then, throwing a temper tantrum. The thought made her want to laugh and cry all at once.

“Your room…?” Elsa tried her best to smile in spite of the mess, and she turned to see Beast scratching his cheek. No doubt he felt embarrassed.

“I know it’s… pretty bad…”

She laughed gently and patted the Beast’s arm. “My room used to always be full of snow,” she said. “And when it would melt the servants had to clean the whole thing top to bottom.”

The Beast offered a shy grin as he led Elsa farther into the chamber. They passed his bed—well, what used to be a bed, now a nest of pillows, blankets and mattress stuffing—and Elsa couldn’t help but notice a painting hung upon the wall, the canvas slashed to pieces. Before she could stop to ask about it, she noticed the Beast move to a set of glass doors, beyond which was a large balcony. Nearby sat a tall table, upon which she saw a glass bell jar. And inside…

Elsa had never seen a rose like it before. It held only a precious few petals now, the rest laying on the table below, but what remained of the blossom glowed brightly in the dim room. Forte’s words began to echo in Elsa’s mind. “A most unique rose…”

The Beast seemed to take little notice of the glowing flower, and instead picked up another item which lay on the table. He smiled as he turned and offered it to the Queen. “Here… You should have this.”

At last, Elsa drew her gaze from the rose and glanced down at the gift in the Beast’s outstretched paws. It was a mirror… a modest, silver hand-mirror. Elsa hardly expected to find such a thing in the Beast’s possession.

“Oh… thank you.” She smiled, accepting the mirror from him, though she couldn’t hide her confusion.

“I know,” Beast began, “it doesn’t seem like much, but… well… it’s actually magical.”

That made Elsa even more curious. “Magic?” She looked at the mirror a moment, but saw only her own reflection in the glass. “What kind of magic? From where?”

The Beast shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know… I discovered it ten years ago when I…” he paused. “I almost smashed it. Like I did other mirrors in the castle… but then I discovered, it can show you things.”

Elsa looked up at him, her eyes wide. “It can? How? Can it show you anything?”

“Anything,” the Beast said with a nod. “You just have to ask it… go on, try it out.”

Well, Elsa had seen stranger things, hadn’t she? Her own powers must have sounded less credible than a magical mirror, after all… She thought for a moment, gazing down at her face in the glass, before she settled on what to ask to see. “I would like to see my sister, please…”

And then, in an instant, the mirror began to glow. Some kind of strange, magical energy arced and crackled across its silver and glass surface, and Elsa saw her reflection disappear. In its place, she could see Anna. Anna and… and Kristoff? And Olaf? They had come to find her?

“And then,” said Anna, “we were surrounded by wolves. Wolves!”

Kristoff laughed before he could stop himself. “Did you throw a burning blanket again?”

“This is serious!”

“I-I know, I know…” Kristoff gave her an apologetic look. “So then what happened?”

“Well, Elsa and I escaped, but we were all alone and I was… a _little_ hurt… and then, we found the creepiest castle ever…”

Elsa smiled. “Anna… she’s really okay.” Better than okay, it seemed. She was with friends. Elsa would rest a little easier until they were together again.

The Beast smiled. “This mirror has been my only window to the outside world,” he explained, “but you should have it now. Maybe when you leave, you’ll look back… and think of me?”

Elsa lifted her gaze to look at the Beast, ready to thank him yet again for all he had done for her. But then, she saw his eyes… those bright, crystal blue eyes… and they were so full of sadness…

Elsa felt her heart tighten at the sight. Was he really going to miss her so much…? “I will be back…” she whispered. “Beast, this isn’t goodbye, not forever…”

He tried to smile a little brighter. “I hope so, Elsa. But… I’ve said goodbye once before, and…”

Elsa had said goodbye to someone once, too… She felt her chest ache at the thought of leaving the Beast as _he_ had left her so many years ago… to go so many more years without seeing those eyes…

Those same blue eyes…

Elsa glanced down at the mirror once more, seeing a thoughtful look cross her own face. And then, as she examined the mirror itself more closely, she realized just how familiar it was. She had seen a mirror like it before… in fact, she had already received it as a gift once, when she was very, very young. “My Grandmother’s mirror…” she breathed. Yes, yes, this was the very same mirror. There was no mistaking the strange, sad creature cast into the top of the handle, the royal symbol stamped onto the back… this had to be her Grandmother’s mirror, which Elsa received the day she died. The mirror Adam had stolen and never returned…

And now the Beast had it. He had her mirror, he had the castle… he had those same, bright eyes…

Even the painting had those eyes, Elsa realized as she glanced across at the ruined portrait on the wall. And the Beast, he knew so much that he couldn’t say.. He knew things he shouldn’t know, like when her birthday was.

And he hated magic. Because magic had done this to him, all of it. Elsa turned her attention to the shining rose in its bell jar for a moment, and then turned to the Beast. To the poor, lonely creature trapped by powers he didn’t understand, just as she had once been trapped.

And then, all at once, Elsa felt the weight of years of her own loneliness, of words unsaid and promises broken, of dreams of the friend she never got to have, all of it came crashing down upon her, and she rushed to him and jumped up to throw her arms around his neck and bury her tear-soaked face in his fur. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, over and over, “I’m so, so sorry…”

The Beast nearly stumbled back as she leapt at him. “Wh-what?” he asked. “Elsa, sorry for what?”

She shook her head and pulled back to look him in the eye, a sad smile across her face. “I’ve missed you,” she breathed. “More than I realized. I was so afraid I wouldn’t ever find you.”

The Beast’s face fell at that, but Elsa soon felt his arms wrapping around her frame. She felt surprisingly safe there, held by those great, terrible claws. “I don’t…” Beast sighed. “I don’t know what you mean…”

Elsa laughed breathlessly. “You don’t have to pretend anymore… I know now. I don’t know how I couldn’t see it all along. Why didn’t you tell me?” He didn’t answer. The Beast’s gaze fell, helpless. And finally, Elsa understood. “Magic…”

Whatever this spell, whatever this _curse_ was, it must have bound him to hide the truth. Him and the servants as well. Oh, how Elsa’s heart ached for them all. They must all have been human, once. And now… What could have done this?

And then, her gaze turned to the rose. “… It appeared ten years ago, and has survived all this time…” That’s what Forte had said. He had tried to tell her the secret, but like the others he had been bound by this terrible magic.

Carefully, Elsa pulled herself from Beast’s embrace and stepped closer to the table. “This is it, isn’t it?” she asked. “This is where the magic comes from.”

“Elsa…”

She turned when she heard his voice, and gave him a bright, reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I understand now… we’ll fix this, Adam, I promise.”

“Adam…?” the Beast’s eyes went wide. “I’m… no, I’m not…”

“It’s alright,” she whispered. “I know… whatever this magic is, it’s keeping you from telling the truth. But we’ll fix this, I promise!”

She turned to the rose again and watched as a single petal lost its glow, falling away from the flower to join its dead fellows on the table. What was the secret of this strange rose…?

Carefully, Elsa reached out a hand towards it, but scarcely had her finger brushed against the glass jar than she felt a strange force. Something, she could not say what, seemed to be pulling at her like a magnet… No, not at her, but at her power!

Elsa tried to pull her hand away, but before she could move an inch there was a cold, blinding light which filled the room. When the light finally faded Elsa looked down at the table and found the jar shattered into pieces. Amidst the shards lay the rose, dead and frosted over, its magical light extinguished.

“What have you done?!” The Beast roared as he rushed past Elsa to inspect the rose, a pained cry falling from his throat as he looked at the frail, lifeless bloom.

Elsa stepped back, her heart pounding in her ears even after the echo of the Beast’s roar faded. “I… I didn’t mean to! The magic, it reacted with my powers…”

The Beast turned to her with a pained scowl. “Do you realize what you’ve done…?” he snarled.

For the first time since her first night in the castle Elsa felt afraid. He had grown so gentle and kind before, but now… “Adam, it was an accident…”

“Stop calling me that!” The Beast slammed a heavy fist on the table. “I’m not Adam!”

“Yes, you are!” Elsa felt tears prick at her eyes again. “I know it! I can see it in your eyes! Please, I can still help you!”

“No, you can’t…” The Beast’s voice fell now, as did his face. He turned sharply, his back to Elsa as he gazed down at the remains of the rose. “No one can… not anymore…”

Elsa felt a sharp pain in her chest with every breath. “What do you mean by that? Adam, please…”

“Adam is dead.” His words were barely a whisper now, but they struck Elsa’s ears harsher than any shout ever could. “He’s dead… and it’s time for you to go.”

The tears were falling freely now. Elsa tried in vain to wipe them away with her sleeve, but they spilled down her cheeks in endless streams. How could he say that? How could he be so angry with her over an accident? Why couldn’t he just let her help him?

How could he tell her to go, without so much as a second thought…?

At last, Elsa turned and ran from the room. She stumbled down the halls and somehow, through her blurred vision and the pounding in her ears, she found her way back to her room.

\---

It wasn’t long before the entire castle buzzing about the almost perfect evening. No one could understand how things had gone so _wrong_ … The decorations had been perfect, as had the food, the music, everything right down to the romantic candle light. The Master and Queen Elsa seemed to be getting along better than ever, and then, suddenly, she had locked herself away in her room and left him sulking in the west wing. How had the evening turned into such a disaster?

Well, a disaster to most… to one resident of the castle, however, the night couldn’t have gone more perfectly.

Granted, Forte knew little more than anyone else in the castle… but what he had heard through the proverbial grapevine had been enough to make the court composer positively giddy. The Master was back to his old, angry self and the intrusive Queen was left a sobbing mess. What more could he have asked for than that?

It wasn’t long at all before Forte saw the Master storm in, sinking into a high-backed chair where he could sit and scowl at the window and the falling snow outside. It took all the composer had not to smile at the sight. “Troubled, Master…?” As if he didn’t know.

“Play,” was the only response the Beast offered.

Forte gave an obedient nod as he began to play a song for his Master, a somber, haunting melody certain to suit the depressing evening. “Your little soirée didn’t go as planned, I take it?”

The Beast grunted softly. “It was a disaster…”

“Oh my…” Forte clucked his tongue—did he still have one, he wondered? —and gently shook his head. “Bad hors d'oeuvres? Did the teapot spill on the Queen’s gown?”

“It’s not funny,” Beast snapped. “It’s over, Forte… all of it…”

“Oh dear… This does sound serious…” Oh, he hoped it was… “Master, whatever is the matter?”

“I don’t want to talk about it…”

“Oh, but Master…” Forte gently prodded, “I’m your loyal servant, your dear friend and confidant. You can tell me…”

A heavy sigh escaped the Master, and for several seconds he said nothing. Forte waited patiently, filling the silence only with his sad, lonely music. At last, he heard the Beast speak. “The rose… it’s dead.”

That made Forte falter, and a sour note marred his melody. “Dead? The rose is dead?” Well, the composer was genuinely surprised to hear this. Not unpleasantly surprised, mind you, but… well, he would keep that to himself. “How? What happened?”

“Elsa…” The Beast shook his head. “Her magic… something about it reacted to the rose, and she destroyed it. There are no petals left… just frostbitten thorns…”

Oh, Forte could have danced! Well, if the Master wasn’t sitting there… and if he weren’t bolted to the wall. “How dreadful,” Forte cried instead, careful to keep up the act. “Oh heavens, the other servants will be devastated… To think we ever trusted that girl, and her awful magic.”

“It was an accident…” The Beast didn’t sound sure of that, Forte noticed.

“Still…” Forte breathed a soft sigh. “Her accident seems to have doomed us, Master… doomed _you_ … What ever will you do with her now?”

The Master shook his head gently. “Nothing…”

“Nothing? After what she’s done to you, Master? After she made you hope? After she dashed those hopes to pieces?”

“It was my own fault,” Beast muttered as he pushed himself to his feet. “I let myself hope… I let myself think I could be happy. I know better now. And I’ll be sending her away first thing in the morning, like I should have from the start…”

“As you wish, Master…” Personally, Forte would have enjoyed a more entertaining end to her time in the castle. A good, old-fashioned mauling, perhaps… or maybe throwing her to a pack of wolves… Lord knew, the dungeons hadn’t seen any use in far too long. But either way, her meddling at the castle had come to an end.

And, at the very least, Forte did owe the queen a debt of gratitude. She had finally put an end to the wretched curse known as hope.

“Is there anything I can do for you, Master?” Forte asked, his voice dripping with concern and sympathy.

The Beast moved to the doors and shook his head once more. “There’s nothing you can do,” he breathed. “There’s nothing anyone can do… except go back to the way things were…”

With that, the Beast left the room. Forte was free at last to smile at his victory.


	14. Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Elsa's time in the castle has finally come to an end...

Elsa couldn’t sleep that night, but she laid silently in bed with her eyes closed for hours. Maybe if she pretended, she thought, she wouldn’t have to answer the wardrobe’s concerned queries, or answer the door when the servants knocked and asked if she was alright. She felt far from alright.

But finally, after hours of laying lost in her own broken, confused thoughts, Elsa felt sunlight hit her face from the window. Morning at last…

With a deep sigh, Elsa pushed herself upright and climbed out of the bed. She heard the wardrobe right away. “Your highness…? Did you sleep alright…?”

Elsa flashed the poor, worried servant a small smile. “I did, thank you.” It was a lie, of course. Elsa ran a hand through her hair, now tangled and mussed, and looked down at her beautiful but rumpled gown. She hadn’t even bothered to change the night before. “Would you hand me my clothes, please?” she asked. “I should get cleaned up and prepare to go.”

The wardrobe frowned as she opened her drawers, finding Elsa’s usual dress. “Already…? Your highness, what on earth happened last night? I thought everything was going so well between you and the Master?”

Elsa smiled sadly. “So did I…”

She said nothing more as she changed out of her gown, nor did she speak as she sat down at the vanity to braid her hair. She stared at her reflection as she worked, and she was reminded of the magic mirror… her mirror. Elsa glanced over at the bed where she left it and saw it laying there, a painful reminder of the night before.

For a moment, she considered using it. She considered picking the mirror up and asking it to show her what she wanted most to see. Adam. But no… Elsa shook her head, knowing that no matter what it showed her, the answer was just going to cause her pain.

A knock at the door roused Elsa from her thoughts. “Your highness?” Cogsworth’s small, nervous voice could be heard outside. “Queen Elsa, I’m terribly sorry to trouble you, but the servants have been concerned all night…”

Elsa breathed a soft, quiet sigh as she stood, moving to open the door and smile gratefully at the clock. “I’m sorry, Cogsworth. I’m fine, really… but if it’s alright I think it’s time I left.”

“Already?” Cogsworth frowned and exchanged troubled glances with the wardrobe. She could only shrug in response. “But I thought—we all thought—after last night… but then you and the Master…”

“Cogsworth…” Elsa held up a hand to stop the servant’s rambling. “Please… I just want to go home.”

The clock’s shoulders fell, defeated. “Yes, yes of course… If you’re ready, your highness, I can have the carriage prepared right away.”

Elsa thanked the clock before he toddled off and turned to gather up her grandmother’s mirror. Had it always been magic, she had to wonder? Was it tied to her own power somehow, or had whatever magic afflicted this castle changed it, as well? She may never know, she realized… but there were many things Elsa was never going to have answers for.

She said a quick goodbye to the wardrobe and thanked her for her kindness and her company before she left the room. She saw many of the servants as she made her way to the foyer, and she was sure to give each a grateful nod and smile. Oh, she was going to miss them…

At last, she came to the front door where a few more servants were gathered, including Lumière, Mrs. Potts and little Chip. “Did we do something wrong?” Chip asked.

Elsa knelt before the little cup and frowned. “Oh, Chip… no, of course not. You’ve all been so wonderful to me.”

Chip pouted. “Then why are you going away?”

Gently, Mrs. Potts shushed her son. “Chip…”

“We’re all sad to see you go, mademoiselle,” Lumière explained. “We had hoped… well things were going so well…”

Elsa nodded. “I know… I’m sorry.” She looked about for a moment but, unsurprisingly, she didn’t see the Beast anywhere. “Have you spoken to your Master at all?”

Lumière shook his head. “He hasn’t spoken to anyone since last night…”

“We’ve been worried sick,” Mrs. Potts added. “About you both.”

Elsa smiled again. “I’ll be alright… I’ll be with my sister soon and we’ll be on our way home.  But... You’ll take care of him, won’t you?”

Mrs. Potts nodded gently. “Of course, luv… We always ‘ave…”

Elsa heard the sound of the carriage outside, it’s wooden stumps thumping against the cobbled stones, and she stood with a soft, calming breath. “Thank you all again,” she said, looking around at the enchanted objects. “I’ll miss you all…”

Elsa waved to the servants as she turned to the door, stepping outside into a cold, bitter morning. The sky was overcast with heavy, somber clouds. A perfect complement to her current mood…

The carriage stood waiting near the castle, its door held open for the queen. Poor little Cogsworth stood beside it, looking up at the queen with sorrowful eyes. “I… I must heartily apologize,” the clock said. “I’m not sure what happened, your highness, but perhaps with time it can be sorted out…”

Elsa shook her head gently. “It’s alright, Cogsworth… I think we all tried our best. It just wasn’t good enough…”

Reluctantly, the clock bowed his head and stepped aside, allowing Elsa to move to the carriage. She was about to step inside when she paused, turning to glance down at Cogsworth a moment. “I always thought you seemed familiar,” she said, “and now I know why. You were Adam’s butler, weren’t you? The one who always came to Arendelle with him?”

Cogsworth’s face fell. “Ah…Er, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean…”

Elsa sighed. “Of course… I’m sorry.”

“However…” The clock’s voice stopped Elsa from entering the carriage and he looked up with a small, sad smile on his face. “Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt now to say… I was quite saddened to hear what happened to your parents, Queen Elsa. They were wonderful rulers and lovely people… they would be proud to see the woman you’ve grown to be. I know I am…”

Elsa paused, looking down at Cogsworth for a long moment. At last, she knelt down and pressed a grateful kiss to the servant’s forehead. Cogsworth blushed visibly but smiled, giving the queen a quick bow before he turned to go back to the castle.

Elsa turned to look back one last time and glanced up at the windows above. Did she dare to hope? Did she dare think that maybe, just maybe, she would see his face in one of them? Maybe he would be watching her as she left… maybe she would see some sign of regret in his face…

She didn’t see a thing. No one watched from the windows except for the servants. With a soft, shaking breath, Elsa climbed into the carriage, asking it to please take her to the village.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, the carriage rumbled to life and stood up on its legs before ambling away from the castle and across the bridge. Elsa looked back just once more as the castle slowly vanished behind the trees and she sank back into the cushions of her seat. Alone, the Queen finally allowed her tears to flow anew.

\---

The Beast hadn’t left his room that morning. He couldn’t bring himself to. It would mean facing his servants… facing her. He couldn’t bear that now, knowing his castle was doomed to this curse forever… knowing that he would never see her again…

Beast sighed heavily as he stared down at the dead husk that had once been an enchanted rose. The frost had long since thawed, but the flower was still as mangled and lifeless as ever. As dead as his chances at ever being human again.

“Master…?” Beast didn’t look up when he heard Lumière enter the room, nor when he heard the clinking sound of the candlestick’s approach. “Master, forgive ze intrusion but… But ze whole castle is in shock. Queen Elsa has left…”

“Good,” Beast muttered.

“Good?” The surprise was in his voice was unmistakable. “Master, she may have been our last chance!”

“She was.” At last, the Beast turned and held the lifeless rose up for Lumière to see. The candlestick stared with wide eyes and slacked jaw, and Beast sighed. “Her magic did this…”

“Ze Queen’s magic?” Lumière shook his head. “But how—why would she do zis?”

“It was an accident.” The Beast set the rose aside once more and moved to stare out the window. But snow had begun to fall once more, and the Beast turned away from the sight with a grunt.

Lumière looked baffled. “An accident… but master, why would you let her leave, zen? Surely she had no idea… she couldn’t have know what zat rose meant. Please, Master, you must forgive her!”

The Beast closed his eyes. “I have. I do.”

“Zen why…?” Lumière pleaded. “Master, you may have lost her forever. Don’t you care for her?”

“I do!” The Beast growled softly and held his head in his hands. “I do… and that’s why she had to go. Because she deserves better than a beast, Lumière. And that’s all I’ll ever be…”

\---

“There’s not a moment to lose!” Anna declared for perhaps the twelfth time that morning. The princess had woken bright and early, and had been a whirlwind of activity ever since packing up as much as she could gather.

Kristoff had tried to help, but he could barely keep up. “I know, Anna, I know. We’ll get there soon, don’t worry.”

“Soon?” Anna demanded as she gathered up an armful of firewood from beside the fireplace. “We should have gone right away!”

“It was getting dark,” Kristoff reminded her. “And why are you taking firewood?”

“For fire, of course! Do I have to think of everything?”

Olaf, meanwhile, had made himself quite comfortable sitting by the window, his flurry littering the floor with snowflakes as he watched the humans. “Do you think we’ll see any wolves?” the snowman asked. “I’ve never seen wolves. At least I don’t think I have… Do wolves have antlers?”

“No, Olaf,” Kristoff replied.

“Do they have long, floppy ears?”

“No.”

“Do they were clothes?”

“Not usually…” Anna muttered.

“Then nope, I’ve never seen a wolf. Uh-uh.”

“Well we better hope we don’t see any.” Anna grumbled as she hauled her armful of firewood to the door. “I swear, if I see one more wolf in my lifetime I’m going to bite it. See how _they_ like it.”

“Anna,” Kristoff sighed, “I don’t think biting a wolf is a good idea…”

Anna huffed. “Well, either way… it’s gonna take more than wolves and snow to keep me off that mountain. We’re not coming back until we find Elsa!”

“Found her.”

“What?” Anna and Kristoff turned to Olaf, who was glancing out the window. “Olaf,” Anna said with a frown, “that isn’t funny.”

“No, really!” Olaf pointed out the window. “I see her right there, coming to the door!”

“But how could…?” Anna stopped when she heard a gentle knock at the door. With a breathless gasp, Anna let the bundle of firewood fall to the door, and she sped to the door in an instant and threw it open.

There, with a small, sad smile on her face, stood Elsa. “Hello, everyone…”

Olaf smiled. “Toldja!”

Kristoff stared. “Wait, what?”

Anna pounced. “Elsa!!”

The Queen was nearly knocked over as her sister leaped at her, throwing her arms around her neck and holding on tightly. “Yes, yes, Anna I’m here,” Elsa laughed, hugging her sister in return. “I’m here…”

“I’ve been so worried,” Anna breathed, her face buried in Elsa’s neck. “I shouldn’t have left, I should have gone to find you sooner, I—”

“Shh…” Elsa smiled and rubbed Anna’s back soothingly. “It’s alright, Anna. You were hurt, I couldn’t expect you to…” She paused, pulling back to look Anna up and down. “You’re alright now? Your arm?”

Anna laughed, wiping a happy tear from her eye. “Yes, Elsa of course I’m alright. It was just a little scratch!”

“I thought you said it was a wolf bite,” said Olaf. Kristoff quickly shushed him.

“But you,” Anna continued, “you’re the one who was up there with that… that horrible beast! Elsa, how did survive? I mean, I know _technically_ it was my idea but I was like half asleep and delirious and I’m not sure but I think a candle was talking to us and besides I don’t have good ideas anyway…”

Elsa smiled, gently holding a finger to Anna’s lips to silence her. “Anna, it’s okay… it… it wasn’t all bad…”

“Really?” Anna tilted her head. “But that ugly creature…”

Elsa’s smile faded. “He wasn’t so ugly…”

For a moment, Anna couldn’t think of what to say. That awful beast, not ugly? She turned to Kristoff and Olaf, but they seemed just as confused as she was. “Then… then did you find anything?” Anna asked at last. “Did you find… him?”

Elsa shook her head gently. “I thought I did, Anna… but… there’s nothing left to find, I suppose…”

Elsa took in a deep breath and stepped inside with Anna, gently closing the door. “Come on,” she said, “let’s sit and talk. It’s my birthday, after all… I want to spend it with the people I love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know this chapter took awhile to get out and I fear it may not have been worth the wait, but October has been crazy hectic for me and writing has been hard to sit and get done. The next chapter may take some time as well, since starting November I'll be focusing on a novel for National Novel Writing Month, which I may or may not be posting here as I write it, but that said there may not be much time this November for Frostbite and Thorns. But fear not! I won't be abandoning this story anytime soon (especially not when I'm so close to the end...) and I'll be working on it as much as I can from now till December! Thanks for bearing with me, readers!


	15. Kill the Witch!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa thinks the worst is behind her now that she and Anna have reunited, but the sisters have more obstacles before them as Gaston works toward his revenge.

“So I _didn’t_ dream up the talking clock!”

Elsa smiled. “No, Anna, he was real. All of it was. The clock, the candle, almost everything in the castle is alive.”

For hours now the sisters had sat beside the fire together, catching up on the long weeks they had spent apart. Kristoff and Olaf sat nearby, listening in amazement as Elsa told the tale of the enchanted castle. “Talking clocks and teapots?” Olaf shuddered. “Sounds kinda creepy if you ask me.”

“It did take some getting used to,” Elsa admitted with a laugh. “But they were all so kind… They did everything they could to make my stay as comfortable as possible.”

“Sounds like a rough job,” Kristoff commented, “considering the monst—” A look from Anna stopped him. “Er, the beast living there.”

Anna nodded her head. “I still get creeped out thinking about him. How did you stand being locked up in a castle with that thing for weeks, Elsa?”

Elsa paused, her gaze falling to the floor. “It was hard, at first… I thought we’d be at each other’s throats forever. I almost gave up… almost left after just a few days, but…”

Elsa was silent a moment, and she turned to look out the window nearby. Through the frost, she could just make out the mountain against the pale sky, the snow-covered peak already growing dark in the fading light. “He wasn’t what he seemed,” Elsa continued at last. “There was something more there, something hidden underneath… I thought I could find it…”

Anna frowned at her sister, reaching out to hold her hand. “Did you…?”

Elsa shook her head. “I thought I had, Anna… But I guess I was wrong.” She turned to Anna again, a smile crossing her face. “But I think my beast was nothing compared to the one you had to face… That Gaston fellow…” Elsa laughed. “I still can’t believe anyone like that exists.”

Anna groaned. “I really wish he didn’t. That jerk… I feel like an idiot for trusting him. And I feel bad for not going after you myself, Elsa…”

“Don’t.” Elsa smiled brighter and pressed a kiss to Anna’s forehead. “I’d never have forgiven myself if you had tried to climb that mountain in your condition, especially all alone.”

“Well, now nobody has to go up there,” said Kristoff. “Now that we’re all here, we can get safely back to Arendelle and forget all about this unpleasant little trip.”

Anna sighed. “Yes, please. I can’t wait to be back home in my own bed again.”

Elsa nodded her head but said nothing as she glanced out the window one more time. By now, the sun had sunk low below the horizon, leaving the mountain nothing but a black shadow against a dark blue sky. Elsa wondered then if she would ever be able to forget this place…

Elsa was roused from her thoughts when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see Anna’s concerned face. “Are you okay?”

Elsa nodded her head gently. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

Anna shrugged her shoulders. “This doesn’t seem like the ideal way to spend your birthday, after all…”

Elsa laughed and shook her head. “No, Anna… I’m with my family.” She smiled at Anna, and at Kristoff and Olaf as well. “There’s nowhere I would rather be than with the people I love…”

Anna smiled back, drawing her sister into a tight embrace. For a moment, as she hugged Anna back, Elsa began to feel as though the ache in her heart might start to fade. But the moment was cut short by a sharp rapping at the cottage door, and all eyes turned to it.

“Ooh, should I answer it?” Olaf asked with a wide grin.

“No,” Anna told him, her voice hushed. “You go hide, Olaf.”

The snowman groaned in disappointment but did as he was told, scurrying off to another room. Elsa, Anna and Kristoff stood, exchanging confused glances. “Are you expecting company?” Elsa asked.

“No,” Anna replied. Her brows knit together. “If that’s Gaston again, I swear, I’m gonna…”

“If it is,” said Kristoff, “he didn’t come alone…” He pointed out the window, and when Elsa and Anna looked outside they saw, to their surprise, a whole group had gathered outside the cottage.

“I don’t like this,” Kristoff breathed. “What do they want…?”

Anna frowned. “Maybe we’ve worn out our welcome. I was only staying here because Gaston convinced everyone to let me, and… well he’s not very happy with me now, I imagine…”

“So what do we do?”

“Well… We’ll just tell them that we aren’t staying.” Anna nodded her head. “I mean they can’t be mad if we stay just one more night, right?”

Elsa wasn’t so sure. She, more than most, knew a crowd of unhappy people gathered together was almost always bad news. “Anna…”

Anna gave her sister a bright smile. “It’ll be okay. They aren’t bad people, Elsa. They’re just simple villagers.”

Elsa wanted to object, but another knock interrupted her. This one sounded even more impatient than the last. After taking a calming breath, Anna moved to the door and carefully opened it. Outside stood a lanky old man with a grim face, his fingers steepled together as he leered inside at the trio. His unfriendly gaze soon came to rest solely on Anna. “Miss Joan, I presume?” His voice was deep and menacing.

Elsa looked at Anna, one brow raised. “Joan?”

Anna shrugged her shoulders. “Long story… But yes?” She glanced at the old man quizzically. “I’m Joan. Well, kind of. Sort of. Can I help you…?”

“I’ve come to collect you,” the old man stated bluntly.

“C-collect me?” Anna took a step back. “I don’t understand.”

The man smiled a grim, sickly grin and  stepped aside,  motioning to a carriage parked nearby. The words “Maison des Lunes” were painted across the side. “Don’t worry, Mademoiselle,” he chuckled. “We’ll take good care of you.”

Elsa frowned at the carriage, and at the grim man in the doorway. “What is the meaning of this?” she demanded. “An asylum? My sister isn’t crazy!”

“She’s been raving about beasts and magic since she got here,” a blonde called from the crowd outside.

“We’ve all heard her,” a short man at the front of the group added. “She’s been raving since she came down from that mountain!” Behind him, the gathered villagers all began muttering their agreement.

“But it’s all true!” Anna defended. She pushed past the older man and looked out at the villagers before her. “Listen, there _is_ a castle up the mountain! And there’s a Beast there, and talking clocks!” The crowd began to laugh. “No, it’s true! My sister, she was there!”

Elsa was quick to step forward, taking Anna’s hand. “Anna,” she whispered, “this isn’t helping…” The crowd would never believe such a wild story. And even if they did… Elsa shuddered to think what telling this group about the Beast would mean for the denizens of the enchanted castle.

“But I’m not crazy,” Anna insisted. “And you being here should prove that! I-if there was no castle how did you survive up in the mountain so long?”

“A good question.” The sound of a man’s voice captured everyone’s attention and all eyes turned to face the speaker. From the muscles and the over-confidant posture, Elsa could only guess this was the man known as Gaston.

Gaston swaggered forward, smirking triumphantly at Anna. “Maybe she was never up that mountain to begin with,” the hunter mused. “After all, LeFou and I searched that mountain top to bottom, and we found no trace of her! I should have guessed the story to be the fantasy of an unwell girl, but… Well, I suppose I was just too kind to realize it.”

Anna bristled, her hands balling into fists. “Liar! You never went up that mountain at all! You’re just mad because I figured out what a jerk you are!”

Gaston could only laugh at the insult, and he motioned for a pair of men from the crowd to come and take Anna, lifting her by her arms. “Poor Joan,” he sighed. “Maybe a good, long rest is what you need.”

“Hey--!” Kristoff stepped forward, anger written all over his face, but more men stepped in to block his path.

As she was carried away, Anna kicked and struggled, calling the men every bad name she could think of. Elsa, meanwhile, could feel the air temperature around her rapidly dropping as she looked on in fear. “Wait,” she called. “Please, my sister isn’t crazy! We just want to go home!”

Gaston turned to the queen with a false look of sympathy. “Oh, I really am sorry about this… But, well, I’m afraid there’s not much I can do…”

Elsa scowled at him. “Anna told me how much sway you have over these people,” she muttered. “You can tell them to let my sister go.”

“Hmm…” Gaston scratched his chin a moment, as if considering it. “I suppose I could put in a good word for your sister… if it was worth my time…”

So, that was it. “Then name your price. What do you want?”

Gaston laughed. “How much do you have? Your sister hasn’t exactly made me feel inclined to help her, after all.”

“We don’t have much on us, just a few coins left…”

He scoffed. “Only a few coins? I already spent a few dozen which your sister so kindly offered me for my services.”

“It’s all we have…” Elsa felt her anger rising, but she kept her emotions in check. She had to. “Please…”

“Well…” Gaston looked Elsa up and down a moment, and his gaze made her sick. “I’d say you have more than a few coins to offer… and you _are_ a sight prettier than your sister.”

Well, that did it. As far as keeping her emotions in check was concerned, Elsa certainly had her limits, and what he had just said to her—what he had the gall to imply—well that pushed her well beyond those limits. Enough to cause the queen to punch the hunter right in his smug face.

The crowd gasped at the sight, and Gaston staggered back, holding his jaw and staring in surprise at her. In a moment, however, the shock in his eyes was replaced by anger, and he turned away with a snarl. “Get her out of here!”

The men holding Anna obeyed, turning to drag her into the carriage. “Elsa!” Anna cried.

“Anna!” Kristoff tried to push past the crowd, but there were too many blocking his path.

Elsa felt her heart pounding in her chest as she watched her sister being hauled away. No, no she couldn’t let this happen. She wasn’t going to. With gritted teeth and clenched fists, Elsa glared at the crowd, at the men that held Anna, and a frigid wind blew across the village. Everyone in the crowd stopped and fell silent as the wind picked up, snowflakes dropping from the sky though there was not a cloud in sight.

In an instant, the ground at Elsa’s feet froze over, and the ice shot out towards the carriage. From there, ice shot up from the ground and blocked the path of Anna’s captors. The men gasped in surprise and released their hold on the girl, allowing her to run back to Elsa’s side.

And now the villagers all turned to stare at Elsa, their eyes wide with fear as they began to whisper amongst each other. “Witchcraft.” “Sorcery.” “Monster.” Elsa had heard all the words before.

She almost didn’t care anymore. Let these little people think what they might. Elsa owed them nothing. Not when they followed the words of such an awful man as Gaston. But then, she felt Anna’s hand on her arm, and the reality of their situation sank in. Now, thanks to her, this crowd wasn’t there for a crazy girl…

Now, this crowd was staring in fear of a monster…

\---

Gaston could hardly believe what he had seen. The sudden wind and snow, the ice which jutted from the ground like a living thing… and Joan’s sister had been the cause of it.

There was no mistake about it. The ice came from the ground at her feet. The wind rose when she clenched her fists. Somehow, this woman had actually manipulated the element of ice itself.

“Witch!” one woman cried out. “She’s a witch!”

“She’ll kill us all!” a man shouted.

“She’s the reason for all this snow,” still another man cried out. “She’s cursed our lands!”

The crowd’s fearful murmurs were growing to cries of anger and hate now, and Gaston could tell the crowd might turn ugly at any second. Good. He could use their anger at that moment.

“What do we do?” a woman called out. “We can’t let a witch go free!”

“And indeed we won’t!” Gaston shouted back.

“Please,” Elsa breathed, “we just want to go home. We don’t mean any of you any harm…”

“We’re supposed to believe a witch?” LeFou demanded. Behind him, the crowd shouted their agreement.

“Come on, men!” one of the villagers cried. “All together! We’ll capture this monster and put her in chains!”

Elsa frowned, reaching for the hands of her sister and their companion. In an instant, a wall of ice grew up between them and the villagers. A dozen men rushed forward, trying in vain to chip away at the ice. Gaston rolled his eyes at their stupidity and grabbed LeFou by the collar. “Come on!” he shouted. “We’ll go around!”

Followed by LeFou and a few other men, Gaston rounded the wall of ice to reach the cottage, but found he was too late. The witch and her party had already fled on their reindeer-drawn sled.

“What do we do?” a villager demanded. “She could freeze us all!”

A fearful cry rose up among the crowd, and Gaston turned to face them. Once again, he would be their hero, their leader, the man whom they all admired. He would revel in it. “This witch could do worse than freeze us,” he called out. “She could make off with your children in the dead of night! She might kill our crops, our livestock! I say we hunt her down and destroy her once and for all!”

The villagers shouted their agreement. “We’re not safe until she’s dead!” “She’ll wreak havoc on our village if we let her go free!”

“Then it’s time to take action, boys!” Gaston called to the crowd. “It’s time to kill the witch!”

“But how’re we gonna find her?” LeFou asked.

“The castle!” an older man suggested. “Maybe it’s real—maybe there is a beast up there, in league with the witch!”

“Then it’s up to us to find it,” said Gaston. “We’ll raid this castle and find the witch, and I’ll fight any beast that tries to stop us!”

Now this was a hunt. This was a search that Gaston could invest himself in. Backed by a mob of angry, willing followers, searching for danger and glory and revenge. He had never felt more alive than he did now, mounting a pitch-black horse to lead an army up the mountain to an epic battle.

“But how do we find the castle?” LeFou asked.

Gaston grinned. “I’ll find it,” he boasted, “because despite what Joan may think, I truly am the best tracker in the land.” And with a witch’s head for a trophy, no one would ever question it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! I'm back! With NaNoWriMo over, I can once again focus my writing efforts on this little fic, which it seems will be nearing its end soon. Hopefully I'll have it done before the holidays are over, but we'll see.


	16. Race to the Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With an angry mob headed to the castle, Elsa knows she must try to save the Beast and his servants before it's too late.

How could she be so stupid, so reckless? Elsa continued to chastise herself as she, Anna and Kristoff fled behind the wall of ice, grabbing Olaf from the cottage as quick as possible before climbing into the sled.

“You should have just frozen him,” Anna muttered as Sven pulled them away from the cottage and the angry mob.

Elsa sighed. “Anna that wouldn’t have helped anything.”

“Would have made _me_ feel better…”

“They’ll probably be watching the roads out of the village,” Kristoff mused. “I don’t know how we’re gonna get out of here… You know just once—just once—I’d like to take a trip that doesn’t involve a sled chase.”

“Why?” Olaf asked. “They’re fun!”

“Just try to avoid the roads for now,” said Elsa. “I’ll keep our tracks hidden.” With a wave of her hand, the Snow Queen caused the snow behind them to fall in on itself and smooth over, hiding their trail from sight.

“You think that’ll stop them?” Anna asked, looking back at the cottage as it shrank away in the distance. Elsa thought she saw a bit of regret in her sister’s face, as though she was going to miss the little house.

“I hope so,” Elsa replied. “But I don’t know if Gaston will give up so easily.” Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to find out, then, she thought… In an instant, Elsa remembered the magic mirror and quickly raised it to her face. “Show me Gaston,” she ordered, and the glass flashed, showing the hunter leading a band of villagers.

Anna gaped at the glass, her eyes wide. “How did you do that?” she asked. “I didn’t know you had that power!”

Elsa shook her head. “It’s a long story…” And one that would have to wait, it seemed, for as Elsa watched the torch-carrying collection of men, she realized with a heavy heart that Gaston was leading them up the mountain. Right towards the castle. “What have I done…?”

“What?” Anna looked from the mirror to her sister. “Elsa, what’s wrong?”

“We have to go to the castle.” Elsa put the mirror down and turned to Kristoff. “Can Sven get up the mountain before that mob?”

“If we knew the way,” Kristoff replied, “but why would we--?”

“I know the way.” Elsa pointed to the mountain, to the western face where the trees were densest. “There. Head that way, and don’t slow down.”

Anna stared at her sister, her brows knit close together. “Elsa, why do you want us to go back there? This could be our chance to escape!”

“I know…” Elsa shook her head. “But I can’t let those villagers hurt anyone. I won’t. Please, Kristoff, hurry!”

Kristoff sighed heavily. “The things I do for this family… C’mon, Sven, let’s go!” With a determined grunt, Sven doubled his efforts and pulled the sled along at breakneck speed, headed straight for the cold, dark mountain.

The journey was nerve-wracking from start to finish, navigating between trees, up steep slopes, across icy streams, all while the threat of meeting with wolves or villagers loomed over their heads. But Sven carried on with courage, and Kristoff guided his companion with skill. All the while, Anna sat beside Elsa, holding tightly to her sister’s hand. And then, at long last, Elsa could see a familiar tower looming above the tree-line.

“We’re almost there!” she announced. “I just hope we’re not too late…” She would never forgive herself if she had been. But as Sven finally crossed the long bridge to the castle, she was relieved to see the gates still standing.

The moment the sled came to a stop, Elsa leaped to the ground and rushed to the castle. She heard Anna and the others following behind her, but she didn’t stop until she was pounding on the heavy wooden doors. “Cogsworth! Lumière, Mrs. Potts, someone let me in! Please!”

For several achingly long moments, Elsa’s pleas were met with only silence. And then, at last, the doors carefully swung open. There, at her feet, she was elated to see a familiar little clock, staring up at her in amazement.

“Your majesty!” Cogsworth gasped. “You-you’re back! How—why—when--?”

A breathless laugh escaped Elsa as she knelt before Cogsworth. “Cogsworth, please, I can explain but right now we don’t have a lot of time. Please—I need to talk to the Beast.”

\---

Beast hadn’t stirred from his room all day. He sat there, at his window, sadly watching the cold, gray sky as the sun passed overhead and finally sank down below the horizon. The servants had tried in vain to bring him out, begging him to eat or take a walk, but he turned them all away. He would find time to eat, eventually… eventually he would wander the castle as he once had. Maybe, he thought, one day he might even be able to stand the sight of snow again. But for now, he knew, he just didn’t have the will for any of it. He had lost everything in a single day—his hopes, his future, the future of his loyal servants… he had lost _her_ …

Would she have broken the spell, he wondered? The enchantress had been very clear in her curse… only if he could learn to love would he ever be human again. But he would have to earn the love of another in return, as well... and he was foolish to hope that he could have earned Elsa’s love. Not as he was. Maybe she pitied him for who he once was… maybe she could have learned to love him without the spell. But would that have been the same as loving _him_? The person beneath the beastly exterior?

He was foolish to think there was anything there worthy of love, inside or out. Perhaps, then, he was foolish to think himself capable of love. Perhaps it was destiny that her power destroyed the rose… perhaps fate was only saving them both from themselves, from each other. Maybe she would be happier now, without him, while he could finally accept his lot in life.

The thought did little to console the heartbroken Beast.

“Master…” Mrs. Potts’ voice came from his door, her voice soft and breathless. “Pardon me, Master, but—”

“Leave me in peace,” Beast interrupted. He was in no mood for the teapot to urge him to have something warm and soothing to drink, or to come sit by the fire and stop sulking.

“But Sir,” Mrs. Potts insisted, “it’s important. Queen Elsa, she’s… she’s come back, Sir!”

At last, Beast turned to look at his servant, his heavy brows lifted and his eyes wide. Elsa had come back? But… but why? “Where is she now?”

“She’s in the foyer,” Mrs. Potts replied. “And she says she needs to see you, Master. Urgently.”

For a moment, Beast felt too hesitant to even speak. She had actually come back, she had asked to see him… why? Would she be angry? Happy? The Beast felt a terrible dread in his chest that made him want to bury himself in his nest of blankets… and yet, knowing Elsa was there, waiting for him… there was a warmth in his heart knowing that. That warmth finally won against the dread, and he stood, leaving his room to rush down to the foyer.

In the foyer, the Beast found a crowd of servants already gathered excitedly around the castle’s unexpected visitors. Anna stood there, looking down with wide, disbelieving eyes at the talking objects. “I really _didn’t_ dream you all up…” she breathed.

“Indeed not,” Beast heard Lumière laugh. “And it is wonderful to see your health has improved, Mademoiselle.”

Behind Anna, Beast saw a man and a reindeer, looking every bit as amazed as Anna at the sight of the servants. With them was what appeared to be a little snowman, grinning at the living objects. “I take it back,” the snowman chuckled, “this isn’t creepy it’s _awesome._ ”

Beast watched the visitors a moment as he descended the staircase, until his gaze fell upon the face he had longed to see most. Elsa. She saw him the moment he came down the steps, and her blue eyes met his. Beast felt an awful desire to run to her then, to wrap his arms around the queen and apologize for everything… but before he even had the chance, a red-haired girl blocked his path.

“You again,” Anna fumed, glaring at the Beast. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten how rude you were, buster!” As she stood between him and her sister, Anna held her head up high and planted her hands on her hips, like a mother scolding a child. “And then the way you treated Elsa… You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

Unsure of what was expected of him, the Beast’s ears drooped and his head sank low between his shoulders. “I’m… I’m sorry…?”

“That’s _right_ you’re sorry.” Anna frowned, folding her arms. “You’re just lucky we’re here to help you, buddy.”

“Anna, please…” Elsa touched Anna’s shoulder, stepping around her sister with a nervous smile. “It’s alright, really…” She turned to Beast with a gentle shrug. “Sorry… She’s very protective.”

“I noticed…” Beast could still feel Anna’s glare burning into his soul until Elsa finally managed to gently shoo her away. Soon enough, the servants had taken the princess’s attention once more, leaving Beast and Elsa to talk one-on-one.

Now if only he knew what to say…

“Elsa…” Beast began, “about what happened, I…”

Elsa shook her head gently. “No, it’s… it’s alright.” She sighed. “No, actually, it’s not… but that’s not why we’re here. Beast…” She looked up at him, her forehead creased with worry and stress. “There was trouble in the village. I used my powers and now the whole village is up in arms, and Beast—Beast, I’m so sorry, they’re headed here.”

The servants, who up until that moment had been excitedly chattering together and with their new guests, suddenly fell quiet, and all eyes turned to Elsa.

“Here?” Beast stared at her a moment, trying to make sense of the news. “But they couldn’t find this castle…”

“Anna and I did,” Elsa reminded him. “If they do find their way, if they make it to the castle… Beast, I couldn’t just let that happen. I had to come, to warn you all.”

Cogsworth began to shudder until the cogs and gears rattled loudly inside him. “Do you mean to tell us there’s an angry mob headed this way? This very minute?”

“Ze villagers will surely ransack ze castle,” a feather duster gasped. “We’re completely defenseless!”   

“What’ll we do?” Chip asked, hopping over to Elsa’s feet.

“We have to run,” Elsa replied. “All of us… I don’t know how, but somehow, we have to get you all out of here.”

“You can come back with us to Arendelle!” Anna suggested. “Well, if you’ll promise to behave.” Here, she shot Beast a warning look.

“And how are we going to do that?” Kristoff asked. “I don’t think we’ll all fit in the sled…”

“We can’t just leave,” said Mrs. Potts. “This is our ‘ome… the only one most of us ‘ave ever known… We couldn’t abandon it even if we did ‘ave the means.”

“But the villagers…” Elsa sighed. “There’s so many of them, and all armed and ready for a fight.”

“Zen it’s a fight zey shall get,” Lumière declared. “We’ll defend zis castle to ze death!”

“But that’s what I want to avoid!” Elsa shook her head, turning to Beast with pleading eyes. “Please… I can’t let any of you be hurt because of me… I can’t let you…”

The Beast watched Elsa with a heavy heart, trying not to let those soft, worried eyes break down his defenses again. “There is no place for us outside this castle,” he said softly. “We have to stay…”

Elsa frowned, her face hardening as she lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. “Then I’m staying, too,” she said. “I caused this… so I won’t leave until I’ve fixed it.”

“Um… how, exactly?” Anna asked. “I mean, not that I doubt you’re all wonderful fighters…” she looked around at the gathered servants, an anxious smile on her face. “But dishes and candles won’t exactly scare a group of grown men…”

“Well we do have snow magic on our side,” Kristoff said with an optimistic half-grin. “And if dishes won’t scare these guys, I bet _you_ could do the job, big guy.” He nodded to Beast. “Uh, no offense.”

“Too bad Snowball isn’t here,” Olaf mused. “Now _he_ knows how to be scary. Hehe.”

Elsa paused then, her brows lifting. “Scary… That’s it… We don’t have to fight the villagers, we just have to scare them off…”

Beast looked at her, his head tilted curiously. “Scare them off? How do we do that?”

Elsa turned to Beast, a bright smile forming on her lips. “Are my snow sculptures still outside…?”

\---

Gaston smiled proudly as he rode towards the castle, staring up at the impossibly tall tower. It seemed the perfect setting for an epic battle against witches and monsters… Gaston would have to find an author to write a book about this one day—one with plenty of pictures of his handsome face.

But as his mob neared the bridge to the castle, LeFou began to shudder. “Are you sure this is a good idea…?” he asked.

“Don’t start sniveling now,” Gaston snapped. “We’re almost there.”

LeFou bit his fingernails nervously as they approached, staring up at the hideous gargoyles which guarded the bridge. “B-but Gaston…”

“What?”

“What if there’s more monsters around here… like these things…?”

Gaston scoffed, looking down at his cowardly lackey with disgust. When he turned back, he was annoyed to find the villagers all shared the same cautious, frightened looks as LeFou when they approached the statues. With an irritated snarl, Gaston rode over to one of the gargoyles and kicked it over, letting it shatter to the cold ground. “These things can’t hurt you!” he called out. “They’re nothing but statues! Show some courage!”

LeFou looked up into the dark sky and his mouth fell open. “If those are just statues...” he gasped, pointing upward, “then what are those…?”

Gaston turned with a frown, but when scanned the sky above the castle he was met with a strange, disconcerting sight. Several more gargoyles, each standing out stark white against the darkened sky, with their enormous wings spread out and their hellish mouths opened wide. But where they stone gargoyles stood motionless at their posts, these gargoyles with somehow gliding upon the wind, moving as if they lived.

And, to the horror of the villagers, they were gliding right towards them.


	17. The Final Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's going to take all Elsa and the Beast have to keep Gaston from claiming his victory. Will it be enough, or will someone be lost in the fight for the enchanted castle?

The creatures swooped down low over the heads of the villagers, their blank white eyes nearly glowing in the darkness as terrible howls ripped from their mouths.

The villagers let out a cry of alarm as the gargoyles passed overhead once, and then again when they saw the things turn to make another pass at them. “The statues are alive!” One man cried.

Gaston glared at the monsters, gritting his teeth in annoyance. Statues, to his knowledge, weren’t made of snow. “This is nothing but a trick!” he called. “The snow witch sent these decoys to deter us! Don’t fall for it!”

The gargoyles glided down once more, and this time they didn’t just pass overhead. One of them, the smallest, tackled LeFou to the ground with a frightful roar, while the rest dropped to their feet and snarled at the mob around them.

The men were cowering now, backing carefully away from the things. LeFou, somehow, managed to writhe away from his attacker and ran to hide behind Gaston’s panicking horse. The hunter growled, counting up his foes. There were five of them in all… hardly a match for a crowd of grown men. At least, he thought so. The others seemed to forget that, just because the monsters had sharp teeth and long claws.

“Fight, you cowards!” Gaston commanded. He grabbed his bow then, notching one of his arrows before taking aim at the fattest gargoyle.

In an instant, the arrow flew through the air and struck its target square between the shoulders. Gaston smiled proudly, but when the snowy abomination failed to fall his smile quickly faded. The gargoyle just turned to him, if anything merely annoyed by his attack, and it leaped over to knock the hunter from his horse.

That seemed enough to set the other creatures off, for they all roared as one and turned on the nearest humans, lashing out with their massive fists, brushing men aside with their wings and knocking their legs out from under them with a sweep of their tails. Soon enough, another snow gargoyle joined the fray, running across the bridge on all fours like an enormous hound. The creature seemed only too happy to jump at the men and bite them, and one villager was only able to crawl away after losing a large patch of fabric from his trousers.

At last, the villagers were on the run, scrambling to get away from the snow gargoyles and running frightened back the way they came shouting “let’s get out of here! Every man for himself!” Even LeFou had finally abandoned his leader, dashing back down the mountain as fast as his little legs could carry him.

The gargoyles watched the men fleeing away into the forest until the last of them had finally faded from sight behind the trees. When at last the would-be-invaders had all fled, and the battlefield was still once more, the gargoyles dissolved back into the snow from which they were formed, their mission to defend the castle complete.

Except the creatures had failed to notice one enemy who hadn’t fled into the forest. Gaston. While he could accept fleeing the snowy monsters as a strategic move, his pride wasn’t about to allow him to run back to the village like the rest of those cowards. No, if he returned now, with nothing to show for it but the shame of being beaten by snow sculptures, Gaston would never be able to hold his head up in public again. He would be a laughingstock—worse, he would just be another man, one of the crowd, without the respect and adoration he had spent years clawing and grasping at. There was no way he was going to live that way, not before hell itself froze over.

And so, while the gargoyles were distracted with the others, Gaston had slipped away towards the castle gate. One way or another, he wouldn’t leave this mountain without the prize he deserved.

\---

A cheer erupted as everyone watched the villagers run from the castle, the servants shouting out hooray as they watched from the frosty windows. Anna laughed as she watched the mob turn tail and flee from the snowy gargoyles, throwing her arms around Kristoff’s neck. “She did it!” Anna cried. “Elsa did it!”

“We owe you our thanks,” Lumière said with a bow towards Elsa. “You’ve saved ze castle and won ze day, your majesty!”

“Yes, yes,” Cogsworth agreed, “it was an inspired defense, Queen Elsa! Those ruffians didn’t know what hit them!”

Lumière laughed, clapping the clock on the back. “I told you it would work, Cogsworth!”

“Ah—Actually, Lumière, I believe _I_ told _you_.”

“No, no, _I_ told _you_.”

“You most certainly did not!”

“Hush now.” Mrs. Potts hopped between the two, giving them each a stern look before smiling up at Elsa. “We all knew you could do it, luv.”

Elsa breathed a gentle sigh as she allowed her magic to dissipate, letting the gargoyles fade back into lifeless snow. “Thanks aren’t necessary… It’s my fault they came here to begin with.”

“ _Our_ fault,” Anna corrected. “A lot of it mine, honestly…” Under her breath, she added, “but mostly that jerk Gaston’s.”

Elsa nodded her head carefully. “But hopefully now they won’t come back…” Here, she turned to face the Beast. For a moment, she paused to read his expression, and she thought she saw the same sadness in his eyes that she felt in her heart. “I suppose you’ll want us to leave now…?”

The Beast’s mouth opened then, and he seemed just about to speak, but the servants beat him to the punch. United, the living objects all began to object, to plead with their master. “No, don’t send her away again!” “She just got here, Master, can’t she stay?” “We can’t send zem back out in ze dead of night!” “Certainly not with those brutes lumbering about out there!” “Mama, why can’t they stay? I wanna play with the snowman…” “Hush, Chip. Although I do think they should at least ‘ave something to eat, Master…”

The Beast looked around at the servants surrounding them, turning from one to another, trying in vain to get a word in each time another spoke. At last, a soft grumble rose from his chest and he frowned. “Enough!” He shouted, and the sound echoed through a suddenly silent hall. All eyes were on him, wide and afraid. But, as she watched him, Elsa saw the Beast’s frown melt away quickly. He scratched his cheek, looking as timid and mild-mannered as a puppy. “Um… I mean… of course, we can’t just turn our guests away, can we?”

The tension in the room faded in an instant, and the servants all smiled brightly before turning their attention to Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf. Cogsworth was quick to volunteer to show them to the guest rooms and, in the reindeer’s case, to the stables.

Elsa let out the breath she had been holding and stepped closer to the Beast, offering him a soft smile. “Thank you,” she said. “I promise, we’ll be on our way first thing in the morning…”

The Beast nodded his head slowly. “Right… you’ll want to get back to Arendelle as soon as possible…”

Elsa nodded in return. “Right…” Had she hoped he might say anything else? Did she think he would have changed his mind? That he might have asked her to stay? It was hard not to let the disappointment show…

Elsa was roused from her thoughts when she felt a hand slipping into her own, and she turned to see Anna at her side. Her sister looked from her to the Beast, then back again with her brows drawn together. “Elsa, are you okay?”

Elsa looked at her sister a moment, giving the most sincere smile she could muster. “I’m alright, Anna. I was just promising Beast we would be leaving in the morning.”

Anna frowned. “He’s still going to kick us out? After everything?”

“Anna…”

“I’m sorry.” The Beast’s voice, soft and gentle as it was, still managed to surprise Elsa. She and Anna both turned and saw his head lowered, his gaze cast to the floor as he wrung his paws together. “I don’t want to make you go…” the Beast admitted at last. “But it’s for the best…”

“Why?” Elsa couldn’t keep the question from spilling out. “Beast, why would you shut me out now? I thought…”

The Beast’s soft eyes, those eyes so full of sadness and humanity, carefully rose to meet her own. “Because you’re a queen,” he breathed. “Because you have a kingdom, people who need you… a family that loves you… you don’t need me.”

Elsa shook her head. “You can’t think that’s true… after all I did to find you…?”

Elsa felt Anna’s grip on her hand tighten slightly, and she turned to see the red head staring with wide eyes. “Wait…” she said. “Wait, you mean… Elsa, _this_ is…?”

Elsa turned to the Beast a moment, looking for any sign, any objection he might have to her answering Anna’s question. She saw none, only eyes which mirrored her own weariness. “Yes,” she answered with a soft, sad laugh. “It’s him… it’s Adam…”

Anna turned to stare at the Beast again, releasing her hold on Elsa’s hand to take a few careful steps forward. The Beast, far from the angry and imposing figure he had once been, shrank away a little from the approaching princess, watching her with wide, confused eyes. At last, Anna stopped in front of him and raised one hand, brushing her palm across the fur of his cheek.

“What… what is it?” Beast asked nervously.

After a moment, Elsa heard a giggle escape her sister. “Wow,” Anna laughed. “You’re still so fluffy, Adam!”

Elsa couldn’t stifle the laugh that bubbled up to her lips. She had almost forgotten Anna’s nickname for the prince, given all those years before. She saw Beast blink at her sister a moment, as taken off guard by Anna’s words as she had been, though instead of laughter he responded with an embarrassed cough before frowning. “It’s not that funny…”

Anna chuckled. “It kind of is…”

“You want to know what’s funny?” The unexpected voice echoed through the hall, breathless and angry. Elsa turned, as did everyone else, and there stood Gaston, a wicked, hateful scowl on his face as he glared them all down. His bowstring was drawn back, an arrow notched and ready to fly.

“What’s funny,” Gaston continued, “is that I came to this castle expecting a haunted house of horrors… and all I find is talking junk and a collection of freaks. I suppose I’ll just have to embellish a bit when I get home…”

Elsa clenched her fist and grit her teeth at the sight of the hunter, though she silently cursed herself for failing to chase him off with the others. What was it going to take to get rid of him?! Before she could step forward to address the intruder, Elsa saw the Beast move between Gaston and the others, a low rumble escaping his chest as he stood to his full, imposing height. “Get out of my castle,” he snarled.

Gaston scoffed. “Not without a trophy, monster. You know, you’d make a fascinating rug.”

“Don’t you dare!” In an instant, a smaller figure had rounded the Beast and rushed sidelong at Gaston, striking him with enough force to make the hunter stagger back. His arrow went flying to the right, up into the western staircase where it ricocheted off a suit of armor, leaving it dented and surprised but otherwise unharmed.

Gaston snarled as he looked down at his assailant, Anna, who had already grabbed onto his arm to keep him from notching another arrow. “I’m getting tired of you, Joan…” he hissed.

Anna glared up defiantly at the man. “The feeling is mutual. And my name is Anna, you primeval creep!”

Gaston rolled his eyes. “I don’t care.” In a flash, Gaston threw down his bow and pulled a large, sharp hunting knife, grabbing Anna by the arm.

“Anna!”  Elsa gasped and stepped forward quickly, joined by Beast and Kristoff, but all three halted as Gaston raised the blade to Anna’s neck.

“Let her go,” Kristoff ordered. “This won’t end well for you, trust me.”

“I’d listen to him,” Anna grunted, in spite of her situation. “You have _really_ goofed up this time, buddy.”

“Quiet,” Gaston growled. “All of you!”

Elsa felt her blood running cold as she watched the hunter, her eyes narrowed as she began to ponder all the ways she could freeze him, or the icy constructs she could use against him. But nothing came to mind that could ensure Anna’s safety… all it would take was one wrong swipe of that knife…

“She’s not the one you want,” Elsa heard the Beast say gently. She turned to him, her eyes wide, and she saw him raise his paws in a yielding gesture. “You said you want a trophy… there’s no better trophy than a monster. No one would miss a beast if you killed it… and I’m the only Beast in this castle. But if you hurt her…” here, his face grew grim, savage, as animalistic as Elsa remembered it to be the first night she came to the castle. “If you hurt that girl, this beast will make a trophy out of _you_ …”

Elsa looked at Gaston again. Was that fear she saw in his eyes? Did his hand shake now as he held his knife to Anna’s throat? “You’re giving yourself up, beast?” he asked. “You surrender…?”

“If you let her go,” Beast replied, “if you leave the others alone… then I surrender…”

“Beast…” Elsa turned to him. She wanted to tell him not to do this, not to give in to this villain, but when she looked at Anna again, at the danger her poor sister had found herself in—once more because of her—she knew there was little choice.

She wouldn’t let Beast do this alone, though. “Me, too,” she said, her head held high and her hands at her sides. “Think, Gaston… two monsters are better than one innocent girl, aren’t they?”

Gaston was silent a moment, his restless eyes jumping between Elsa and the Beast. At last, he grinned. “Now that’s a hunt more worthy of Gaston,” he chuckled. Slowly, he began to back away towards the staircase. “But I’d rather not take any chances. You want to trade places with the girl? Then let’s make a trade—somewhere private, out in the open. Just the four of us!”

The moment he reached the steps, Gaston turned and fled up the stairs, dragging Anna with him. In an instant, the Beast dropped down on all fours and gave chase with a mighty roar. Elsa wasted no time in following.

Up and up and up they chased Gaston, higher and higher up the castle, until at last they came to a shattered window, broken no doubt by one of the heavy leather boots which left tracks in the snow on the roof outside. As she followed the Beast out this window, Elsa took note of the raging winds which whipped past the castle, obscuring the view with countless stinging snowflakes. She had no delusions about this storm, and knew it to be her own creation, but with a few calming breaths she willed the wind and snow to give them both a wide passage across the slippery rooftop.

“Where did they go?” Elsa called ahead to the Beast.

“This way,” he shouted back over the roaring winds. “At least I think… the wind is blowing their footprints away!”

Elsa frowned, pushing harder against the elements to try and preserve their trail. But luck, it seemed, was on their side, as they heard a sound up ahead. A shout from Anna, a soft thud and a grunt of pain from Gaston. Anna was just ahead, still alive and fighting back!

Elsa and the Beast pressed on, and soon enough the found Gaston holding his jaw while trying to keep hold of Anna’s arm. His knife seemed to have fallen to the snow. Elsa wasted no time in raising her arms and pushing a gust of wind in his direction, and Gaston was sent toppling over. He might have pulled Anna down with him, had Beast not leaped forward to grab her in his arms.

With Anna safely out of the way, Elsa was free to bombard their enemy with all the icy, biting wind at her disposal, pushing the man farther and farther back towards the edge of the roof. Beyond that, she knew, there was nothing but a long drop down the mountain.

“Wait, please!” Gaston cried as he tried in vain to grab hold of the slippery roof. “Please, don’t hurt me! I’ll do anything! Anything!”

Begging… how pathetic. Elsa sneered as she watched the hunter, whimpering and grasping futilely for his wretched life when he wouldn’t have given a second thought to murdering her, murdering her sister. He didn’t deserve any more mercy than he was willing to give.

Elsa stretched out her fingers and pushed Gaston with the full force of her blizzard winds, even willing the ice and snow beneath his fingertips to grow as slippery as possible, a cruel scowl forming on her face. Until she heard Anna’s voice. “Elsa! Elsa, stop! Please!”

She did stop. Partly, at least. The winds kept howling, the roof remained slippery, but the force of Elsa’s gale had dropped down enough to stop pushing Gaston towards the edge. What was she doing…? What was she about to do?

In a moment, Elsa heard footsteps at her side, and she turned to see Anna and the Beast, looking at her. “Elsa,” Anna whispered, “you don’t have to do this…”

Elsa frowned. “After all he did…”

Carefully, Elsa saw Beast lift his hand to her own, gently taking hold of it. Her small, thin fingers slipped easily between his own, and he held on as tightly as if he feared she might fall away from him. “We’re not monsters…” he whispered. “Not the kind he thinks we are…”

Elsa was silent for a moment or two, her eyes locked with Beast’s. She could see herself reflected in those bright blue pools, as clearly as if she were gazing into her mirror. She didn’t like what she saw; a woman in the clutches of anger and hatred, a frightened, hateful thing who sought to return the hurt inflicted upon her… she saw herself the way she had once seen the Beast—had seen Adam. She no longer saw that in him… she wouldn’t make him or any of her loved ones see it in her.

At last, Elsa dropped her arms to her sides, and in an instant the snowstorm began to die down. She turned to Gaston as he finally began to scramble back up, gasping for breath, and with her head held high and her voice low but firm she commanded, “Get out of this castle.”

A sigh of relief spilled from Anna’s lips, and she rushed forward to wrap her arms around her sister. “Oh, that was way too close,” she breathed. “Not-not that I thought you were actually gonna…”

Elsa smiled, squeezing her sister gently. “Of course I wouldn’t. I’m no monster…” Her gaze lifted to the Beast, and she gave him a thankful smile. “I’m just sorry I had to be reminded… again…”

Beast smiled back. “Nobody’s perfect…”

Elsa and Anna both laughed gently and Anna rested her head on her sister’s shoulder. Elsa was happy to stay there for the moment, with Anna safe in her arms and Beast there, smiling back at her… it might have been a perfect moment, if not for the defeated hunter nearby.

Speaking of which… Elsa glanced over at their enemy once more, expecting to see him still cowering and quivering from his near-death experience. He was far from cowering now, however, and to Elsa’s horror she saw him retrieve the knife she had thought lost. With a vicious glower, she saw the man stand and rush at them—at the Beast—with his knife held out, ready to make a fatal blow.

She had only moments to act, not enough time to think or to cry out or to fight the hunter off. All Elsa could think to do in that moment of time was to throw Anna away from the danger, to jump forward and protect the Beast from the hunter’s blade. Before she had even realized what she had done, Elsa felt a sharp pain grazing her side and she fell to the white snow which soon grew red beneath her body. She was aware only of the pain, and of Anna’s screams as the Beast let out a roar and struck Gaston with a heavy paw. She saw the hunter fall again and slide away to the edge of the roof, and in a moment more he was gone from her sight, his scream fading away down the sharp drop.

It had all seemed to happen in a matter of several minutes, but as Elsa finally let out a shaking breath she realized it had only been two, maybe three seconds. She tried to lift herself up, but the pain in her abdomen burned like fire and she fell again with a sharp gasp.

“Elsa!” She Anna call her name past quiet sobs. “Elsa--! Oh, no…!”

“Anna,” she whispered, her chest too heavy to speak, “Anna, it’s okay… I’m okay…” She may have been lying… big sisters were allowed to lie to keep their sisters happy, right? In an instant, Elsa felt herself gently being lifted into a pair of large arms, and she looked up to see the Beast’s face above her. He looked so sad, still…

“Stay still,” he whispered, and Elsa felt him hold a strip of his cape against her stinging side. “It’s alright, I’m here…”

Elsa smiled up at him, in spite of the pain. “I’m sorry… I’ve been nothing but trouble since I got here, haven’t I…?”

The Beast smiled, though Elsa knew it to be forced. “Maybe a little,” he breathed. “But so have I…”

“Ever since we were kids…” Elsa agreed. “You still want me to think it’s not you…?”

The Beast shook his head, his smile falling away. “Elsa, why… why did you do that…?”

No use hiding it now, was there…? Not when she was so tired… so cold… It wasn’t a good sign if she felt cold, was it? “I couldn’t let you get hurt… I couldn’t lose you again, Adam…” With what little strength she had left, Elsa lifted her heavy arm and placed her palm over Beast’s cheek. She could feel his fur was wet with tears. “I’m so glad I found you again… that I got to know you…”

Beast placed his hand over hers, holding it there as if he knew she might not have the strength to hold her own arm up much longer. “Even as a beast, Elsa…?”

She laughed. “You’re you. No matter what you look like, you’re Adam… my first friend… No matter what, I want you to know this.”

With a soft groan, Elsa forced herself to sit up as much as possible, until her face was close to his, and with a soft breath she pressed a tiny kiss to her Beast’s lips. A soft gasp escaped him and she smiled as she fell back in his arms, too sleepy to keep her eyes open. Before she drifted off, she made sure to breath three, quiet words.

“I love you.”

And she dreamed she heard a voice echoing the words back to her, before a heavenly light engulfed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, readers! My gift to you all is tears! ;u;


	18. Ever After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tale comes to a close...

“You looked a little closer, I see. Good.” The beautiful woman smiled at Elsa as they stood together in the remnants of the strange maze of roses. All the blossoms were gone now, the lovely red petals stripped away as if by a terrible icy wind. The sight left Elsa with terrible guilt.

“Winter has killed your beautiful roses,” she sighed wistfully. “Just like my powers killed Adam’s rose…”

The woman laughed that sweet, motherly laugh. “Elsa dear, that is winter’s nature. The way of life. Rose bushes planted in spring may grow the most beautiful of blossoms, but even the loveliest will not last in the ice and snow once summer ends. But the seasons pass, the sun’s warmth returns and in time so do the roses, so long as they still have branches to grow on and roots to provide nourishment.” The woman sighed peacefully. “Isn’t it comforting to know, no matter what may pass, no matter how things appear on the outside in the harshest of times, that there can still be life and beauty, waiting to bloom again?”

Elsa nodded her head gently. “I suppose so…”

The woman regarded Elsa a moment, and the young queen felt her endless eyes were peering right into her heart. “Yet you’re still troubled, my child. Why?”

Elsa folded her arms across her chest as a small shudder shook her frame. “I’ve felt cold… not like usual… I’ve felt chilled to the core, I’ve felt ice pricking at my skin and settling into my bones… I’m afraid…”

The woman smiled and placed a gentle hand on Elsa’s shoulder. “You thought you were dying, Elsa?” When Elsa nodded her head, the woman sighed. “Oh, poor dear… no, no you were never in any danger of death. Even without your magic, at worst you had simply lost some blood.”

“My magic?” Elsa arched a brow at her. “What does my magic have to do with it…? I only have power over ice and snow…”

“Your magic knows fewer bounds than you give it credit for, dearie. _Your_ skill is snow, but magic can do many wonders. It can heal the injured, it can awaken life in unlikely places… it can even break the direst of spells.” Here she gave Elsa a playful wink. “Even my own.”

Elsa regarded the lovely lady a moment, her head tilted to the side. “How do you know…?”

The woman laughed again. “Your grandmother always knew your gifts would be great, child. That’s why she asked me to watch over you. And I must say, there could be no prouder fairy godmother in the world, my Elsa.”

Somewhere, far in the distance and yet right in Elsa’s ear, a clock began to chime. The dreamscape around her began to vanish, and as it did, so too did the strange, otherworldly woman. She smiled again at Elsa, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she began to vanish, whispering, “wake up now… wake up…” At the last “Wake up,” the woman’s voice seemed to fade away into another voice, one soft and tender yet wonderfully familiar…

Before she knew it, Elsa found herself staring at the blank, empty sight behind her own eyelids. She could still hear the clock chiming, but now she knew the sound to be coming from a few feet away. With a tired groan, she turned her head toward the sound and carefully opened one eye, then another. There, on the nightstand, she saw a familiar little clock.

“Cogsworth…?” Slowly, with a dull ache in her side, Elsa propped herself up on her elbow and reached out to the clock. It didn’t move an inch, and as she looked at it she noticed something strange. There were no eyes now, no mouth… no life at all. “Cogsworth? Is that you?”

She received no answer. With a sigh, Elsa pushed herself up in her bed and placed a hand over her aching midsection. She had expected to feel more pain than this, some stitches, perhaps, but through her nightgown she could feel nothing. No stitches, no bandages… just a closed—albeit tender—wound across her side, where Gaston’s knife had grazed her.

So, she hadn’t died. Good… good to know. But then what happened? How was she healing so quickly? Had she been asleep long enough for the wound to close? No, she remembered the dream woman’s words now, and the realization hit her… her own magic had healed her. Her magic could mend wounds.

That was also good to know.

In a moment, Elsa heard the door opening carefully and she lifted her head to see a woman enter the room. She was tall, and carried herself with grace and nobility, and when she smiled at Elsa the queen couldn’t help but feel she had seen her before. “Oh, goodness!” the lady gasped. “You’re awake! Oh, this is wonderful!” Quickly, the lady looked out of the room again. “Princess Anna! She’s awake!”

Elsa heard the pitter-patter of two small feet hastily rushing down the hall then, and the door flew open. Anna all but dove inside, a bright, wide smile crossing her face as she hopped over to Elsa’s bedside. “Finally!” she breathed. “It’s been almost a whole day! Elsa, you scared us half to death! Didn’t she, Madame Garderobe?”

“I’ll say!” The lady, Madame Garderobe, moved to stand on the opposite side of the bed and patted Elsa’s hand gently. “But we all knew you’d pull through, your highness! I said to everyone, ‘don’t you worry about Queen Elsa. She’s got too much fight in her to go out like that!’”

“Ah… thank you…” Elsa smiled up at the taller woman, inspecting her familiar features. She felt certain she knew this woman, but…

After a moment, Elsa turned to the window and carefully climbed up out of bed. “Elsa, be careful,” Anna gasped, but Elsa didn’t pause. She rose with a soft groan, holding her side, and slowly shuffled over to the window.

She could hardly believe the view she saw outside. Where there had once been nothing but snow and gray skies, she now saw a bright, lush green mountainside, framed by the loveliest blue sky she had ever seen. The castle, far from the grim, crumbling old castle she had come to know, was now a bright and shining palace, with the most beautiful sculptures of angels and cherubs happily lounging on rooftops and ledges where grotesque demons of stone had once lurked.

“Where are we?” Elsa asked.

Anna laughed gently. “We’re still in Gévaudan,” she replied. “Still in the same exact castle we were before.”

Elsa turned to Anna, her eyes wide. “But… how?”

Anna shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t really know, Elsa… one minute you were hurt, and you were bleeding and then the next… I don’t know, there was this bright flash and fireworks all over and… well,” she motioned out the window. “Everything just got real pretty!”

Elsa paused a moment, staring out at the gorgeous statues outside a moment as she pondered Anna’s words. “The spell… did it… Did _I_ …?” She turned to Madame Garderobe then, the corners of her mouth lifting. “The wardrobe… you were the wardrobe.”

Garderobe chuckled and gave the queen a gentle curtsy. “Guilty as charged, honey~”

Elsa laughed. “Then that means the others…?”

 Anna gasped. “The others! Oh, they’ve all been waiting! Hang on!” In a flash, Anna was out the door as abruptly as she had rushed in, and in mere minutes she returned with Kristoff, Sven, and a whole plethora of others. There was a tall, thin man with a pointed nose and kindly eyes, a short, older woman with a soft and motherly face, accompanied by a spirited young boy and his dog. And there, by their side, Elsa instantly recognized a man she hadn’t seen since she was a child… unless seeing him as a clock counted.

“Cogsworth!” Elsa laughed, hugging the man tightly. “And Lumière! Mrs. Potts, Chip! You’re all human!”

“’cept for Sultan,” Chip giggled. “He’s a dog.”

“Of course he is.” Elsa smiled, kneeling down to pet the former footstool. “I can’t believe this…”

“Neither could we,” Kristoff chuckled. “One minute we were surrounded by candles and teacups and the next thing we knew the whole castle was crowded with people.”

“And it’s all thanks to you, Queen Elsa,” said Lumière. “You have broken ze spell!”

“Oh, but why are you out of bed?” Mrs. Potts asked. “Oh, now, you need to rest, luv! After the ordeal you and the master went through…”

Elsa stopped, lifting her head to search the small crowd of new yet familiar faces. What of the Beast? What of Adam? “Your master… where is he, Mrs. Potts? Is he alright?”

Anna looked around as well a moment before she let out a small sigh. “He didn’t come in? I told him not to be nervous…”

“Nervous?” Elsa turned to Anna with a raised brow. “Why would he be nervous?”

Anna smiled. “Well… I think you should just see for yourself. I mean I’m surprised you didn’t already, he’s been watching over you as much as Garderobe, Mrs. Potts and I have.”

He had watched over her as she slept? Elsa had to wonder now about that familiar voice she had heard asking her to wake up… “Please, Anna,” she said with a smile, “please, will you tell him… I want to see him.”

Anna’s smile brightened and she gave Elsa’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll be right back.”

Calmer this time, Anna stepped out the door one more time. She didn’t seem to go far, as moments later she was back, leading someone in by the hand.

Everyone took a step back now, watching with expectant smiles on their faces as Anna brought Elsa’s guest in, gently pushing him closer to her with an encouraging grin. For a moment, all was quiet as Elsa looked him over.

He was tall—a full foot taller than she was—and dressed in a modest white shirt and gray pants which seemed to almost hang off his frame, as if the clothes had been tailored to fit someone nearly twice his size. His shoulder-length hair, the color of golden amber, was swept back from his handsome face which reminded Elsa of the statues outside, with chiseled brows and a strong chin. And his eyes… it was the eyes that really caught Elsa’s attention. They were so bright, shining at her like sapphires as he gazed at her.

The silence carried on a moment longer before he laughed gently—anxiously, Elsa thought—and scratched his cheek. She couldn’t help but smile at the familiar gesture. “What are you staring at…?” he asked in a soft, sheepish tone. It was softer now, but Elsa recognized the voice in an instant.

“It’s you,” she sighed at last. Without hesitation, Elsa closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him with all her might. She was happy to feel his arms carefully wrapping around her waist a moment later. “It’s you,” she whispered again. “It’s really you, Adam…”

Adam laughed gently. “It’s me.”

She pulled away a bit, just enough to look at him again, and she smiled. “I can’t believe it… the spell is broken! But how?”

Adam shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I thought it wouldn’t be… the rose… the enchantress had said the spell had to be broken before the last petal fell.”

Elsa’s face fell. “The rose that I destroyed… Gods, no wonder you were so upset…”

Adam shook his head. “I wasn’t upset with you. I just thought there was no hope of being myself again… I thought you deserved better than an ugly beast…”

“Adam…” Elsa looked up into his cool blue eyes and sighed softly. Did he really not know, even now? “I meant what I said, Adam… Do you remember?”

He nodded slowly, a ghost of a smile crossing his lips. “I remember…”

“Wait,” Elsa heard Chip whisper, “what did she say?”

Anna giggled softly and whispered back, “I’ll tell you later…”

There was soft laughter from everyone in the room, and Elsa smiled brightly up at Adam once more. “So… you know how I feel now,” she said. “But what about you, Prince Fluffy?”

Adam rolled his eyes at the nickname, but his smile only grew. “I think you know how I feel…”

Elsa grinned at how red his face grew. “Well you don’t seem to hate me…”

Adam shook his head. “Never.”

She laughed, standing on her tiptoes so that her face drew closer to his. “Come on, everyone’s waiting to hear you say it,” she whispered playfully. “So just let it go…”

Elsa could feel the heat radiating from Adam’s face now as his gaze wandered about at the expectant faces around them. At last he let out a defeated sigh. “Alright, alright… I love you, too, Elsa…”

Upon hearing those words, Elsa didn’t hold back any longer, leaning up to steal a kiss which she was pleased to find returned as a cheer erupted in the room around them.

When at last the kiss was broken, Elsa looked up at Adam with a smile and she reached up to touch his cheek. The feeling of smooth skin beneath her fingertips made her pause, tilting her head as she regarded the prince’s face.

“What is it?” Adam asked.

Elsa laughed gently. “It’s nothing… I was just wondering… do you think you would ever consider growing a beard?”

 

~The End~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is, the story's all finished! Thanks for reading it, everybody, it was a lot of fun finally telling this little love story I'd had in my mind for ages!  
> Oh but we're not COMPLETELY done yet... there is one tiny little surprise coming up... Happy New Year!


	19. Epilogue

A nice, happy ending. That’s what it was. The spell was broken at long last, and the prince and his servants were human once more, free to resume their normal lives. With the spell ended, the mountain was no longer the dark, foreboding place it had been, and the fog over the memories of the surrounding villagers had lifted at last. It was as though the rightful prince of Gévaudan had never gone away.

As for the Queen of Arendelle, she and her sister finally returned home and resumed their own lives and duties. But, with relations between Arendelle and Gévaudan restored, it was no surprise to see Prince Adam soon arriving for the first of many royal visits between the rulers, each visit marked with a wonderful dance. It wasn’t long before the peoples of the kingdoms began to smile and whisper to each other about the royal courtship.

The servants of the formerly enchanted castle seemed to adjust well to their restored humanity. Cogsworth was happy to accompany the master on his trips to Arendelle, just as he had in years past, while visits from the Arendellian queen and princess to the castle gave Mrs. Potts and the others every opportunity to spoil the sisters and offer their long-neglected services. Yes, it was a happy ending for all…

All except for him, anyway. Forte. Once the Master’s own confidant, his best and only friend, a genius mind blessed with immortality… but it was all gone, now. The moment the spell had broken, Forte found himself transformed back into his frail, vulgar human form. He had forgotten how much smaller he had been, how old his bones felt… Ugh, and the cold. He hadn’t felt cold in a decade, but now the icy air in his chamber assaulted him like a blizzard wind. This was simply unacceptable…

Forte fled the castle that very night, stealing what warm clothes and food he could while the rest of the castle was busy celebrating—the imbeciles. He feared the master’s wrath if he ever discovered his attempt to manipulate the queen, even if he no longer possessed neither claw nor fang, and determined to be as far from the castle as possible before that could happen. But he had no intention of staying away…

Magic. That’s what had caused this. Magic had brought the curse upon the castle once, had taken it away again… it could just as easily restore the spell and restore his former glory. Putting an end to the happiness of those other wretches would simply be icing on the cake. If he could only find someone with magic…

His search began that night and carried on for days, weeks, months, until the snowy winter had long passed and he found himself wading through a summer storm, hiking up a barren mountain trail miles and miles from home. So many leads, so many false hopes, all leading to dead ends and powerless charlatans… He had almost given up hope before hearing rumors, hushed whispers among fearful peasants of an ancient and terrible witch, who lived in ruins high in the mountains. And, to Forte’s delight, through the driving rain, he could now see those very ruins up ahead.

It must have been a castle, once, with high spire and towers, mighty walls and battlements… they had all crumbled away now, though, as had much of the mountain surrounding it, no doubt weathered away by the wind and rain over the centuries. All that remained was a few broken walls of aged green stone.

Forte entered these ruins cautiously as the thunder echoed across the mountains, searching for any signs of life. All he found within the decrepit walls, however, were old bones half buried in the mud beneath his feet. The sight made the former composer consider leaving…

And then, in a flash of lightning, Forte caught sight of wooden cellar door in the ground, against one of the broken walls. He inched closer to it, and he could almost hear something within, though the driving rain made it difficult to make out. After a moment’s hesitation, Forte opened the doors with a loud creak and began to descend the stone steps beyond the entrance.

When the door closed behind him, he was glad for a reprieve from the elements, but he found that while the stairway was dry it was even colder than the rain had been. Hugging his coat tighter to himself, Forte shuddered and lit a match for light, descending the steps cautiously. Soon enough, they led him down into an ancient, dusty chamber. He assumed, at first, this must have been the castle’s wine cellar. But just before his match burned out, Forte saw the shadows of ancient chains and iron bars… No, not a cellar. It had been a dungeon.

In the sudden darkness, Forte heard a sound. A wicked, guttural caw, followed by another, and then two more. Startled, it took the already shaking man a few seconds to find another match and strike it. In the low light, he now saw a collection of dark birds, ravens, all perched upon rocks and beams and broken chairs as they scowled at him with cruel, hateful eyes. No wonder a group of ravens was called an unkindness…

As Forte stared fearfully at the hateful things, his match burned out once more and he rushed to light another. This time, when the sparse light filled the dungeon, another dark form could be seen among the birds, lounging in a chair that Forte swore hadn’t been there before. The form seemed almost human… save for the pair of horn upon its head.

“Who are you,” the form asked. It’s voice was feminine, but hard and cold.

Forte shuddered more violently now, dropping his match to the floor in fear. “F-forgive the intrusion,” he said with a quick and awkward bow. “I am Maestro Forte—your humble servant, my lady.”

“I have no servants,” said the horned woman. “Only my pets. And they are quite hungry this night…” The ravens cawed and squawked viciously in the darkness.

“But-but wait,” Forte stuttered, “please, I’ve come for your help. You are the witch, are you not? I’ve been told you are quite powerful, and have need of your magic to help with a curse.”

“A witch?” the woman cackled. “Is that what you think I am? Oh, I am so much more than that. And my powers are for no one’s use but my own…”

Suddenly, Forte felt something shooting up from the ground below, grabbing him. They were vines, wrapping tightly around his legs as their thorns dug painfully into his skin. “You poor, simple fool,” the witch chuckled. “Thinking you could come here and ask _me_ to undo a curse.”

Forte cried out as the vines creeped higher and higher, soon engulfing his torso as well as his legs. “Not… not to undo one,” he gasped, “I wish it to be restored!” Suddenly, the vines stopped moving and the ravens went deathly quiet. Forte heard the woman standing then, though she spoke not a word.

He had gotten her attention.

“My master,” Forte explained, “a prince, he angered an enchantress… she cursed him to be a terrible beast, and all his servants to become objects… but the curse was broken by some trollop with ice magic.”

“An enchantress…” the witch muttered to herself. “Such power…”

“Yes,” Forte agreed. “Yes, and I wish her spell to be put back over the castle—over myself. I’ve searched for months to find someone powerful enough…”

A moment passed before Forte heard soft, deliberate footsteps in the darkness before him. A hand reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a match. Without striking it, the witch held the match between them and it lit with a soft, emerald flame. In its glow, he saw the woman’s face before him, her pale green features framed by dark hair and her yellow eyes shining with malevolence.

“You’ve earned my attention,” she said with a smile. “For the moment. Please—tell me more about this enchantress…”


End file.
